Never Return to Neverland
by QuinnJ
Summary: Ariel finds herself wrapped up in the twisted games of Peter Pan when she agrees to save Henry, but who will save her when Pan and the lost boys take the game too far?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This started out as a simple idea for a one-shot about Ariel, but it kinda turned into more than that along the way. Other focus characters include Peter Pan, Hook, Snow, Wendy and Felix. Wish me luck with that. ;)**

**I wasn't too sure about the rating so I went with M to be on the safe side. It doesn't start out that way, but there will be somewhat graphic violence in later chapters. **

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><p>It was a rare moment of peace and quiet they found themselves in. Peter Pan and Felix were sitting side by side, sharpening their weapons. They often did this, but with the adults on the island now, they rarely had moments like that anymore. And it seemed even this one was to be short-lived as Pan felt a jolt going through his body and he stopped his activities. Ever in tune to his leader's state of being, Felix asked him what was the matter.<p>

"Someone's leaving Neverland."

Felix immediately wanted to spring into action, suggesting they'd stop whoever it was, but Pan knew it was already too late. The person, or rather, creature who had left Neverland was a mermaid. He had little sway over them since they could travel between realms of their own accord.

"Don't worry Felix," he said when he noticed his friend's worried expression. "We simply need to get word to our friends on the ground."

"Storybrooke?" Felix asked with disdain in his voice. That town has brought them nothing but trouble, not to mention a bunch of adults who ruin everything. It wasn't in his nature to question Peter, but he really didn't share his leader's confidence in the people working for him.

"They can handle this," said Pan, glancing up at the cage. They'd better if they wanted their darling little sister to live.

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><p>At the edge of the lake, Ariel had positioned herself on some rocks close to shore, holding the bracelet tightly in her hands, fearing that her only chance to get her wish fulfilled would somehow slip through her fingers. With great care she put it into her satchel along with the shell like item Rumpelstiltskin had given her. She was supposed to give it to a woman named Belle in a town called Storybrooke. It was all quite vague and there were no guarantees that the Evil Queen would actually honor her word this time around, but she knew herself too well, she'd do anything to find her true love again. Even take a big risk such as this.<p>

Ariel didn't expect an honest answer, however, she had to ask whether or not she would indeed receive the location of her prince. All Regina could tell her was to trust her. Without further dialogue she slipped back into the water. No matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn't shake the feeling she was being tricked again.

She felt like a fool for trusting Regina again. The Queen had only deceived her in the past, took away her voice, her chance at happiness together with Eric and she had almost killed her only friend. And yet, in spite of all that, she hadn't been able to resist the offer. The prospect of seeing Eric, talking to him, kissing him, explaining to him that she hadn't abandoned him all those years ago, it was too tempting for words.

Finding this Belle and retrieving the box Rumpelstiltskin had asked for, would lead to her finding Eric. This thought strengthened her resolve more than anything. So she swam, she swam as fast as her fin would carry her.

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><p>Elsewhere in Neverland a girl, Wendy Darling, sat in high above the ground in a cage. Cages were for animals or so she had learned once. Not for humans, but there was this boy, who locked her up anyway. Did that mean she was an animal now? Or did the boy only view her as one.<p>

She had wanted to save Bae, but she wasn't a very great heroine. She had been captured within minutes of touching Neverland soil. She had been scared to go back. Her first visit here was less than pleasant and she had been extremely relieved to be allowed back to her home, to her family, of which Baelfire had become a part of. He was like a big brother to not only her, but to John and Michael as well. They needed someone to look up to, she always tried her best to look after her younger siblings, but they were boys and boys were very different from girls. Very different indeed. Peter Pan was a boy, a very cruel boy. The stories she'd heard about Neverland were true, however, not all was told in these tales. Like how the leader of this place was mean and his followers weren't any nicer.

She thought she was being brave, by overcoming her fears of returning to Neverland. Turned out she was only very foolish. Not brave. She never even got the chance to search for Bae, for all she knew he could be dead by now. Wendy had lost track of the number of days she was trapped here, but she knew it was long. Her former life had begun to seem like a dream, like an unreality. It felt as though she had always been on this island. Right from the start.

Wendy was ripped out of her train of thought by a jolt of the cage. She felt it being lowered to the ground. Panic set in. Oh no, no no. It was him. He wanted something from her. He always did. He always promised her she'd go free if she'd just do him this one last favour. If she didn't agree, she would never see her brothers again, nor they her. She wasn't even close to the ground yet and already she cringed and curled up in a ball, as if somehow, that way, he would not see her. He'd overlook her and leave to go about his business. It really never worked, but her instincts were to recoil and stay safely out of his grasp.

The wooden crate hit the ground with a thud, not a smooth landing, but not all that rough either. At least they hadn't simply cut the rope so she and her cage would crash to their demise. The locks rattled as Peter opened them. That sound, it never failed to fill her with the smallest amount of hope. Hope was all she had in this place. Hope that one day he'd keep his word and let her go.

The door swung open and there he was, extending his hand for her to take it. She didn't want to touch him. Like a fool she asked him if she was to be set free. 'Not yet Wendy' were his chosen words. 'Yet', as if there would actually come a day when his answer would be a simple but certain yes. It confused her to no end. She took his hand and chills ran down her spine at the contact. As soon as she stood out of her confinement, she let go of his hand, standing before him apprehensively.

"I need you to do me a favour," he said in a tone that made it very clear he wasn't asking, he was telling her. "We have a guest, a guest that needs some incentive to believe."

Wendy stepped away from him inconspicuously. She didn't like where this was going. "We're going to play a game. Your favorite as I recall," he could hardly keep the condescension out of his voice. "The princess and the prince. I need you to be the princess in distress, so Henry, our newest recruit, can be your knight in shining armour." He was mocking her. She really didn't feel like playing games, ever, but she knew better than to refuse Peter's demands. So she asked for the rules, like she was supposed to.

"What is he rescuing me from?"

"An illness. Magic is dying and so are you," he said that last part rather menacingly. He was threatening her casually and they both knew it. What he was really saying was, if you screw this up, you die. "Oh and Wendy, let's make it convincing yes?" Wendy nodded her head and let Pan lead her by the arm towards the hut in the tree.

Once there he shoved her onto the bed. "Remember what I said..." he warned. Wendy looked at him warily. This wasn't good enough for Pan so he started towards her. "Yes," she said promptly, before he could take his second step. Keeping him as far away from her as possible was all she cared about. He stopped in his tracks and smiled.

"Good girl."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Just wanted to say a quick thank you, to those who followed and faved the story. It's very much appreciated, believe me. Of course, I'm quite happy too, if you simply read it at all. :)**

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><p>On his way back to camp Felix was in deep thought. He had just come from the old abandoned tree house where Peter had taken Wendy. She was supposed to help them achieve their goal. Making the kid believe. His face scrunched up skeptically at the thought of it. It wasn't so much that he doubted Pan or his capabilities, he was sure his leader had it all under control. He just couldn't see how all these annoying intruders would ever stop getting in the way.<p>

Girls, adults. Peter knew how to handle them. Felix, however, did not. He admired his leader's strength and focus to not kill them on sight. That's what he would've done anyway, but that would've gotten them nowhere. He knew they needed the boy's heart and they needed him to give it of his own free will. This was why he'd never make a great leader, manipulation wasn't his thing, he'd rather bash the heads in than play games with them.

Oh but Peter was all about the games. He personally didn't have the patience for it, but he loved seeing him play those suckers. He toyed with them like they were dolls and all they could do was dance to his tune. The map he gave the saviour, the echo caves, all designed to crack them from the inside. So far it had worked quite well. They were running around the island like headless chickens trying to be one step ahead of him, when all they could manage was being two steps behind. It amused Felix a great deal.

He could learn a lot from Peter. Even though he was more of a physical damage kinda guy, one should never underestimate the power that lies in emotional damage. To weaken an enemy simply by twisting their minds to turn on themselves was brilliant. It certainly kept them busy and off their backs.

Felix had been curious to know who exactly was able to leave Neverland without Pan's approval. He could guess though. He knew of only one sort that could leave whenever they pleased. Mermaids. How he loathed them. He sincerely hoped it was one of them just so that they'd be dispatched of upon their arrival in Storybrooke.

He had had an unfortunate run in with one of those damn fish when he first arrived here and knew nothing of Neverland's dangers. He was new to this land and eager to explore. In his naïve curiosity he had come too close to the edge of the mermaid's lagoon and then, well then he had found out exactly how friendly mermaids really were. He was left with a nasty scar as a souvenir.

Luckily Peter had come to save him in the end. Good thing he showed up, otherwise Felix would not be here today. He owed him his life.

Finally having reached the campsite he sat down on one of the logs scattered around. There he waited for Pan to return with the update on getting the boy to believe in his 'mission'.

Not long after he had settled himself amongst the other Lost Boys, Peter returned as well. He came to a halt in front of Felix who looked up at him expectantly.

"And?"

"It worked," Pan replied. "She was quite convincing, almost fooled _me_."

Felix lowered his head and chuckled at that. Deceiving Peter Pan was not an easy task. In fact it was perfectly impossible. He looked back up and saw that same look on Peter's face. The one he had whenever he sensed something of importance on the island, but this time he was slightly less at ease.

"Someone leaving again?" Felix asked.

"No... someone arriving."

Those two words were all that needed to be said to explain exactly what was happening here. John and Michael had failed and now the messenger was back, no doubt with gifts for his beloved son and his group of rescuers. This was not good.

"A mermaid?" Felix inquired, this time eager to have his suspicions verified.

"Indeed," Pan confirmed. His lips curled up into a wide grin. He scanned the compound fleetingly, counting the amount of Lost Boys at his disposal. Satisfied with the ones that were present, he announced loudly, so that everyone could hear:

"Alright! Gather your things. We're going fishing boys!"

Felix shared a mischievous look with Peter. Finally, he'd get his payback. And now he was gonna thank the little sea hag for what her kind had done to him.

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><p>Ariel was smiling from ear to ear. It really worked. Regina had enchanted the bracelet for her, no tricks this time. From now on she could walk around on land whenever it pleased her. She had decided to try it out before she headed back. Just in case the Queen had gone back on her word somehow.<p>

It had been an awful long while since the last time she was granted legs. She raised a single leg off the ground, bringing her knee up to admire one of her newly acquired limbs. Unfortunately she quickly found that wasn't such a good idea. She stumbled over into the sand. Giggling uncontrollably at her own clumsiness, she leaned back on her elbows. Legs were always a bit difficult to get used to the first couple of minutes.

The mermaid sat there for a moment, taking it all in. Her heart skipped a beat when the image of Eric came to mind. Nothing stood in her way now. She was free to be happy. With her prince. So what was she still doing here?! She jumped up on her feet and walked over to the edge of the water. Back to Storybrooke it is.

She had been told that is was created by dark magic, but it was a surprisingly lovely little town for having originated from a curse designed to make people's lives miserable. She had especially liked Belle. She reminded her a lot of her friend Snow. The moment Ariel met Belle, she had felt at ease; that perhaps this whole mission she was sent on wasn't an elaborate ruse and that this woman would help her complete her task. She definitely felt she could say, that now, she had two close friends.

The moment she started to remove the bracelet, Ariel heard chants and howling coming from the jungle. She turned around and before any of it registered, she was surrounded by a group of boys. They did not look very friendly at all and neither did those weapons they were carrying with them.

While the Lost Boys charged towards their target, Peter lingered at the jungle's boundary. He had spotted someone walking along the shores so he'd sent the boys ahead to check it out. Once the person was cornered, he stepped out of the shadows of the trees to take a closer look at them. What he saw was not what he had expected to find.

A girl. A woman. With the fiercest shade of red hair he had ever seen.

"Hello there!" he greeted from a distance. He walked over casually to where everyone, including Felix, was standing. He stopped in front of Ariel, a bit too close for her liking. "Who are you and how did you get here?" he asked curiously, not remembering seeing her with any of the other adults who were here to save Henry. "I'm Peter Pan," he tried.

Still, she stayed perfectly silent.

"Hm not speaking are we? That's very rude," he stated, raising an eyebrow.

Ariel had placed her hand over the bracelet, ready to slip it off and take a dive into the water. Peter's eyes narrowed at the ornament around her wrist; it had a distinct significance to it, he could feel it. It most likely was a magical object.

"Tell me, where did you get that?" he gestured in the direction of her arm.

Ariel stared at him defiantly and pursed her lips together, sending him the message that he was not getting anything out of her. At least not anything that could be traced back to the people who were trying to save that little boy. She might not know much about the person Regina had become since they'd parted, nor about the man she brought along, however, she did know they were helping Snow and her daughter. She would not betray her friend's trust, not now, not ever.

Peter was getting tired of this. He had other things to do, like track down the mermaid who was aiding Rumpelstiltskin. And if that thing she was grasping so tightly had any powers he needed to make sure she wouldn't be able to use it against him. He held out his hand to her.

"Alright have it your way, give it to me."

"No!"

He cocked an eyebrow triumphantly at getting her to speak. "Oh she does have a voice after all." He nodded to two of the boys who then proceeded to take a hold of her by the arms, keeping her firmly in place. Panic set in as Ariel struggled for her freedom, it was no use though. Peter took one step forward and wrapped his fingers around her forearm, gripping it painfully. With his other hand he yanked the bracelet off her.

"No please!"

Their eyes locked for a split second. She fell down to the ground, slipping out of Peter's grasp. What happened then elicited gasps from almost every boy there. They all backed away from her immediately, except Felix. No, not him. He was pleased. Very pleased.

Peter watched the entire scene unfold before him. Eyes wide in surprise when he witnessed her legs erupting in scales. He couldn't contain his excitement any longer. Grinning like a Cheshire cat at his catch he moved closer to Ariel, who was now fully transformed and securely bound by her mermaid fin. Unable to run anywhere. He crouched down beside her, capturing her gaze with his own.

"Well well, things just got a whole lot more fun... For me," he added with a dangerous smile. Sending one last wink Ariel's way he rose to his feet. "Take her back to camp," Pan ordered, all traces of previous elation gone from his voice.

"I need to have a little chat with someone..."

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><p>He arrived at the spot where he had last left Wendy. In the distance he heard sickeningly sweet tones fill the air. The girl was singing.<p>

Wendy was rocking back and forth softly, with her arms around her legs. Peter had kept the cage on the ground this time in case he needed more of her assistance with Henry. Something she actually appreciated quite a bit; it felt dangerous to be all the way up there.

Singing was something she used to do for John and Michael when they had trouble sleeping. When she closed her eyes she could imagine herself back in the nursery with both of them sitting on either side of her bed. This thought had always been able to calm her in her darkest hours.

Her inner tranquility was rudely interrupted by clattering of chains. It was the lock on her cage; its door was jerked open violently.

"Out," Pan said firmly. She didn't like his tone at all, he seemed very angry. She was afraid and she'd rather stay in the safety of her small crate. "NOW! Don't keep me waiting, Darling." his voice sliced through the air.

She was moving too slow for his liking so he grabbed her arm and pulled her out with great force, making her land on her hands and knees in the dirt. "Seems your brothers have some difficulty following orders. That, or they just don't care about you anymore."

She looked up at him from her position on the floor with pure fear in her eyes. Pan took a step towards her. "Peter please, I'm sorry," she said, not really knowing what it was she was apologizing for. "Oh yes, you will be sorry Wendy," he growled as he pulled her up by her hair.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ooh more followers for this story I see. That makes me so happy. :D Thanks so much to LyrisaLove and lilyaudet for reviewing, you guys are the best.**

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><p>Hook had taken a moment to isolate himself from the group, hoping this time he wouldn't be interrupted by any... <em>people<em>. He found that taking some distance from the emotional rollercoaster they all seemed to be on and having a fine drink was good for the soul.

Soon, with the alcohol taking effect, his mind started to wander. He knew the reason why he had gone back to this godforsaken land and yet, at times he truly didn't. Neverland was a place one shouldn't want to visit willingly. Unless you're a lost kid with nowhere else to go, nothing left to lose.

The reason had been Emma and her son; he couldn't bear leaving yet another innocent boy behind to fend for himself against Pan like he had Baelfire. However, with each passing day that reason became a little less significant, because now here he was, facing his worst mistakes and his deepest fears on an island that cost him his brother.

It puzzled him how the non-magical realm could have had this place pegged so utterly wrong. He'd heard the gist of the tale from Emma. Peter Pan, a happy little fellow who could fly and had jolly adventures with mermaids and fairies. The boy who was forever antagonized by the ruthless Captain Hook. More like the other way around, he scoffed to himself while taking another swig of rum. He wondered briefly how this writer even knew of Neverland and its inhabitants.

Just as he was getting a good buzz going, he heard leaves rustling. His stomach dropped and he groaned inwardly. He really didn't want to deal with Pan and his mind games right now. However, the person who emerged from the trees was certainly anyone but an obnoxious boy with an attitude problem. It was Tinkerbell. He quirked an eyebrow when he laid eyes on her.

"You were expecting someone else?" she gave him a cheeky smile. "Mind if I join you?"

Hook extended his arm to indicate she could take a seat beside him. He never minded the fairy's company. She was pretty much the only person in all the realms whose presence he could tolerate at the most inconvenient of times. She had this curious ability of seeing right through him and his wall of charm he often hid behind. Not many understood that it was merely a front. He had never been able to fool her though.

Tinkerbell looked at him for a while, her eyes fell on the bottle in his hand. "What's on your mind?"

"Just wondering what the bloody hell I was thinking coming back here," he answered with a great big sigh.

"Ah and here I thought you came all this way to see little old me."

He grinned at her, "Of course not my dear, I came to see Pan. I just missed that sunny disposition of his so much."

"Well I'm sure he feels the same," Tinkerbell chuckled and took the flask from his hand to help herself to the strong liquor Hook had introduced her to many years ago. They sat in silence for a short while until Snow came to fetch them.

As he walked a pace behind Tinkerbell, Hook pondered whether or not he'd make it out alive this time. He had learned that escaping Neverland is nothing short of a miracle. Still he went back. Once you have the opportunity to leave Neverland, it's wise to never return. Little did he know, two other individuals on the island had come to the exact same conclusion.

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><p>Why? Why on earth had she insisted on trying out her new set of legs? Why did she not jump back into the water the second her task was completed? Why hadn't she run when she had the chance?<p>

All these questions ran through Ariel's mind as she was being dragged to the boys' campsite. Her fin scraped the ground painfully through the net they were carrying her in. She tried to grip the net with her hands to alleviate some of the stress on her lower body, but her arms became tired quickly and it didn't lessen her pain much.

Finally they came to a halt. The boys dropped the net and Ariel hit the dirt hard. She rolled on her back and stared at the sky above her. She drowned out any noise in her immediate surroundings. When she shut out the boys' talking she heard something on the wind. It vaguely resembled a girl. A girl who was screaming. Ariel narrowed her eyes in concentration. Was she imagining it, or was it really there? Before she could determine which answer it was, she felt hands tugging on the net. She focused her view on the boys; they had knives. She saw that the knives were cutting the ropes instead of her and felt some sense of relief even though she couldn't go anywhere on land with her fin. Bound or free, it mattered very little.

Hands were once more around her arms. This time dragging her towards a tree that had ropes tied around it. The ends of it were fastened to her wrists, while her fin got to rest in a small and shallow pool of water just to the side of the large tree, not nearly enough to cover her whole fin, but maybe half. It wasn't much, but she did feel more comfortable. The water eased her dried scales somewhat. She twisted her lower body just to cover the top of her fin with some water as well. With a sigh of relief she rolled back into a sitting position.

Ariel had been so preoccupied with the water that she hadn't noticed someone staring at her. So when she finally took some time to look around her, she gasped in surprise when she saw a tall blond boy observing her. It was the same boy who had stood next to Peter at the beach. The one who _hadn't_ backed away from her. His stare was so icy, a chill ran over her arms and down her back. Fearing he might take it as an invitation to speak to her or to come closer to her she stopped staring back at him. Instead she focused her gaze on a group of younger kids who were standing just a few feet away.

Felix continued to stare her down. If one had been able to see inside his mind, they would be emotionally scarred for life. Various scenarios of the redhead's end formed in his head. He snapped out of it when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Pan needed to see him. It regarded that other intruder, who he hated almost as much as the mermaid. He hoped that whatever Pan needed him for wouldn't take up all his time. The fish tied to the tree was not rid of him. Not by a long shot. He moved from his spot towards the place where the girl was kept in a cage.

What he walked in on made him smile. A mess of white laced fabric and blond curls was lying motionlessly on the hard soil. Right next to Pan's feet, who was staring down disdainfully at the little heap of girl.

"Felix, please, see to it that _this_," his eyes still on Wendy, "gets back to where it belongs. Then meet me back at camp. Our little mermaid is going to give us some answers."

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><p>Taking his anger out on Wendy had lifted his spirits a great deal. Peter smiled to himself as he recalled the image of her looking up at him with those big brown eyes of hers, eyes he had soon given another color entirely, begging for her life. Stupid girl, of course he'd let her live, what fun would it be if he killed her? Then he'd have to find himself a new toy to play with. Although, he might already have one waiting for him. He didn't even have to go through much trouble to acquire it, it just swam right into his net.<p>

His eyes lit up as soon as he saw her. She looked positively uncomfortable, not to mention slightly weary. He wondered what exactly this girl had brought back for his useless son from that sleepy old cursed town. Had she already delivered it? Or had he hindered the exchange just in time? He couldn't wait to find out so he stalked towards her.

He had learned from 'spending time' with Wendy, that girls were easily influenced by charm. He'd used it on more than one occasion with her if had wanted something done quickly. But this was no ordinary girl, this was a mermaid. They were different. They were cold-blooded harpies without hearts. An alternative approach would have to suffice here. One he was all too eager to try.

Ariel, who had been left all by herself, tied up for quite a few hours, noticed out of the corner of her eye, someone approaching her. It was the leader of these boys. Peter Pan. Having had nothing but time to think about all that had occurred since this morning, she remembered seeing him before. Always from a distance though. As much as she liked humans and wanted to be near them and be like them, she had had a bad feeling about this particular human being from the moment she laid eyes on him. His darkness was what had kept her at bay.

After the Queen had taken her voice, she moved away to the farthest realm she could find. None of the other mermaids had wanted anything to do with her anymore; falling in love with humans, saving them, losing her most precious gift as a mermaid. They had all turned their backs on her. Ariel had never felt more alone. When she got to this land, the fairies who resided here had told her about Peter Pan and how he dealt with people who stood in his way. During her time in Neverland she had continually managed to avoid him. Until today.

Peter came to a standstill right beside her. He lowered himself to her level and studied her for a brief moment before speaking. She had been quite tenacious about resisting cooperation so far. Let's see how long she could keep that up. "You know, I _will_ make you talk," he paused to let his words sink in. "So why not make it easy on yourself and start by giving me your name," he demanded, intent on getting to the core of things without further delay.

She didn't answer. Whether she was too tired or too stubborn to do so, he couldn't tell.

"Are you going to be difficult? Because I have a lot more questions for you and well... the more you stay silent, the more I'm going to have to hurt you. So please, do yourself a favour," he shot her a look, "your name."

She looked down where his eyes couldn't reach hers. "It's Ariel."

"Very good. Now you are going to tell me all about your little mission to Storybrooke and maybe I'll let you live."

Her heart skipped a beat at hearing him speak so casually about her existence. She had gone without her voice for so long, she thought it wouldn't be all that challenging to stay quiet now, however, it proved to be more difficult than she had anticipated.

"Last chance Ariel."

She was on the verge of speaking, yet upon seeing the tall boy who had been staring at her from the start entering the camp, she froze. Pan looked over his shoulder to see what had her so frightened. Noticing that it was Felix, a wolfish grin formed on his lips. So she feared him did she? This was too perfect.

"Alright then, I guess we'll have to do this the hard way," he said, standing up abruptly.

"Felix..."

The boy's face lit up. This was his favorite part. He retrieved a small dagger that fit perfectly into his hand. Felix seemed to be admiring the weapon, before his eyes travelled over to where Ariel was.

Trapped.

Completely at his mercy.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Uh yeah this chapter... don't even get me started. I'm kinda reversing the character developement for Hook and writing my own. Although after seeing the new episodes, I'm not too convinced there was much developement to begin with. So now I am even more determined to _make_ him care about someone other than Emma and himself and that someone is going to be Ariel. **

**PS. Snow finally makes an appearance, never written her before, so fingers crossed I got her right. Oh and I'm not sure whether or not I'm supposed to warn people about when the violence occurs, but if so, it starts in this chapter.**

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><p>Practising her archery had become one of Snow's favorite things to do when stressed. Her days as a bandit had been lonely and dangerous, but the one good thing that had come out of it was that it had taught her a great deal about survival. Survival was essential here in Neverland, she had found that out before all of them had even reached the shores of this place.<p>

Flexing the bow as far is it would go, she took aim and released the arrow. Right in that instant a dark figure stepped directly into her line of fire. She gasped and no sooner let out a sigh of relief when she saw the arrow bury itself into the tree only inches away from the figure.

The figure drew his sword, probably expecting to find Lost Boys that were trying to do him in. As soon as he marched in the direction the arrow had come from, Snow could see it was in fact Hook who was wandering the area.

"Sorry!" she called out to him, with an apologetic smile on her face. She couldn't suppress a grin when she saw him coming at her with a scowl on his face.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't use me as target practice _milady_. I know you're trying to keep me away from your daughter, but killing me might be a bit drastic."

"Hey I resent that. If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have missed." She flashed him a complacent smile and retrieved a new arrow from her quiver. "Gotta say, for a second there I thought you were Charming."

"I am charming love," he winked at her.

The statement sounded so comical to Snow that she let a short laugh while rolling her eyes, effectively making the slight shakiness she was feeling at the thought of almost shooting her true love disappear. Stretching the string of her weapon once again, she got back into position.

"More training?" Hook asked, while striding over to her. He moved behind her and caressed the bow until he reached her fingers. "Aren't you quite... _skilled_ already?" An involuntary shiver ran down Snow's spine, her breath caught in her throat. Then she snapped back to reality and elbowed him in the ribs. "You are unbelievable," she exclaimed, baffled by his audacity.

"Aye, that I am," he winked at her. Snow turned around to face him.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" she decided to change the subject.

"Collecting some wood for a fire, though I found myself, distracted." An eyebrow was raised for emphasis on the last word; dashing grin in place.

Undoubtably 'distracted' was a euphemism for 'drinking'. The pirate had seemed a little out of it the past few days, more so than usual. She had noticed it that day when she found him talking to Tinkerbell. They had history obviously, Hook had spent hundreds of years in this place after all. Snow could hardly stomach one week here, let alone a couple of centuries. Perhaps his return affected him more than he tried to let on.

"Well alright let me help," she offered.

Hook spread his arm out, wordlessly inviting her to do just that. The bow was slung over her shoulder as she walked past him and took the path ahead of him. Hook trailed behind her, not able to resist taking a gander up and down her body. Old habits do die hard.

After a little while they had enough branches and small logs to keep a good fire going through the night. Snow placed her share of the firewood down on the ground to take a breather. Hook looked back at her expectantly.

"You're not coming?"

Snow looked around her. "Actually, I think I might stay and practise some more. You go on ahead." Although reluctant to stray too far from the group, she opted for a more remote spot this time. "Unless you wanna stay too and act as my target," she brightly offered.

"Had quite enough of that, thank you milady," Hook declared and with an exaggerated bow he took his leave.

She just couldn't make up her mind about the pirate. Yes he was helping them, helping Emma, but she still didn't fully trust him. Were his advances on her daughter true or was it merely a game to him? She wouldn't stand for Emma being a pawn in anyone's game. She wouldn't allow anyone to use her like that. Not Hook and not Neal.

She liked Neal, she really did, his heart was in the right place, that much was clear, but not unlike his father he too had made some bad choices in the past. Now, she knew that neither of them was perfect. In fact the entire rescue party consisted of people who had made regrettable mistakes in the past. However, that didn't mean she wasn't wary of the men trying to woo her daughter. Their intentions had to be sincere, she deserved that much. Snow just wanted the best for her daughter. Emma hadn't had that for such a long time.

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><p>It was an odd occurrence, the mermaid's fear of Felix. However, seeing her actually recoil from him was something even more odd; Pan hadn't expected that kind of reaction from the creature before him at all. He'd never known a mermaid to cower away from human beings before. This was very intriguing indeed.<p>

"You better start talking Ariel. Felix here hates your kind. Can't say I blame him, look at what they did to him." He placed his hand on Felix's shoulder, gesturing towards the boy's face with the other.

"So unless you'd like to get carved up like the fish you are..." he trailed off studying her. He knelt down next to her and as he did so his eye fell upon a jagged scar, an inch or two below her color bone. He traced his finger over it which elicited a shiver from the mermaid. "Looks like someone beat us to it."

Ariel turned her head away from him. "Got snared on a hook once...," she said quietly.

Pan raised his eyebrows sharply, "Really? This _hook_, wouldn't happen to have been attached to a pirate now would it?" Her head snapped back to face him as soon as he'd uttered his suspicions. What he then saw in her eyes told him all he needed to know.

"Seems he wasn't too gentle with you." His voice was compassionate, yet his eyes betrayed the malignity he was actually feeling.

Not too gentle. With those three simple words, Ariel found herself right back in that moment. She lowered her head trying to fight back the tears. There had indeed been a pirate once, a man she had mistaken for a mere sailor. She had rescued him from other mermaids and the scar... the scar had been her repayment. Till this day she never regretted saving the pirate's life, though she did steer clear of any humans for a while after that.

"It's a reminder that all people are worth saving," she replied with conviction. She truly did believe that. The man may have hurt her, however, she'd seen something in his eyes moments before that. Those beautiful blue eyes that reminded her of the very waters she made her home in. There had been kindness and gratitude in them, until...

"Hm is that so?" Pan inquired, looking as though he was truly pondering over her statement. He rose to his feet again and started pacing back and forth. "You would risk your pretty neck to save me too then would you?" The corner of his lip curled up derisively as he placed before her the deceptive dilemma.

"You're not a person. You're a monster."

Her contempt amused him greatly. "So that's a 'no' then?"

"I would let you drown."

"Well, it's a good thing I'm so skilled at surviving then. If I had to rely on the likes of you..."

He let the sentence hang in the air as he realised what she had been doing. Making him think he had her cooperating because she was talking, however, she wasn't talking about anything he wanted to know about. Admittedly her connection to the pirate might come in handy, but he was done with pleasant chats. He wanted answers.

He turned around to face her. "Oh you are a clever little one. You've been wasting time, stalling in case anyone goes looking for you isn't that right? Well no one knows I have you here and even if they did, why would they care?"

Ariel appeared worried about the answer to this question. Surely Snow White would care for her, even if it had been years since they last saw each other. Suddenly she felt the ropes binding her to the tree loosening. A dull ache in her shoulders made its presence known, causing her to wince in pain. She looked around and saw that two boys were untying her, they grabbed her by the arms and dragged her out of the small little pool of water onto the dry soil close to the unlit campfire.

Instantly she rolled over onto her stomach and started to crawl away, clawing with her hands at the earth beneath her. It really was no use whatsoever, but she simply couldn't not try. Not trying would be giving up. And she was nothing if not determined.

No sooner an agonizing scream reverberated throughout the forest. It was Ariel herself. She looked back and was confronted with the source of her unbearable pain. Felix had taken the dagger and stabbed it into the end of her fin, effectively pinning her to the ground. The delicate veins had burst open and now blood was trickling out. Her screams were something out of this world. Lost Boys who happened to be within the immediate vicinity of her, cringed at the sound of it. Except Peter and Felix. They felt their souls liven at the excruciating tones.

"Now," Pan continued, "what did Rumpelstiltskin send you to get?"

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><p><strong>Additional AN: Ok next chapter there's gonna be some Hookrielness, I promise. Thanks for sticking with me so far you guys.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Goodness, you guys! This chapter was agony to write, I repeat AGONY. I could NOT get through it. I don't know if it was writer's block or what, but I almost lost faith in this story. What encouraged me to keep going was the follows and reviews (granted these were on other stories but) they made me feel like my writing wasn't a total disaster. So thank you all!**

**PS. Changed the rating since I changed the torture scenes.**

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><p>The pain was endless, or so it seemed. All thoughts in Ariel's mind were drowned out by the fierce agony she was in. Felix's eyes danced over her form as he dragged the knife down her fin, slowly ripping it in two. He watched her reaction meticulously, not wanting to miss one moment of her suffering. If one were to look only into his eyes one might think the boy was living the happiest moment of his life. Such glee could be found there. For Ariel, however, it was far from her happiest moment.<p>

She stretched out her hand towards Felix, "Please! Stop!"

Pan was standing not far away, beholding the scene in front of him. A mermaid begging for mercy. Now that was something he never thought he'd see. Another advantage that came with living forever a young life; eventually you see it all.

He took in her appearance momentarily; her red hair reminded him of fire, no doubt a reflection of her personality. Her eyes filled with fear and pain, yet strength and determination. She was a beautiful thing, even more so covered in her own blood. He'd gladly have her defy him for a good many more days, just to watch her suffer. Sadly, he hadn't the time.

"Stop? We've only just begun Ariel, unless you wish to speak up of course," he paused to give her chance to respond. If she was half as smart as any other mermaid she'd quit trying to be a heroine.

"You see our dear Wendy was just a warm up," he explained further.

This sparked an interest in the mermaid. "Wendy? Wendy Darling?"

"Oh you know her?" Pan raised his eyebrows; surprised at first, but then he remembered. No doubt the Darling boys told the mermaid all about their helpless little sister. "Yes she proved to be quite useless, her and those brothers of hers." This wasn't entirely true, after all she had convinced Henry that magic was dying, but he wasn't above stealing credit for things.

"Care to tell me what they shared with you?"

Ariel looked up at him, hoping her obvious distress would somehow stir something within the boy. Compassion perhaps, sympathy, understanding. However, she couldn't have been more wrong. His eyes were void of any of those things, in fact he seemed greatly pleased about the state she was in at the moment.

"No?" he asked, giving her one last chance.

Pan gave a nod to Felix and without so much as a second of hesitation he buried the knife into the delicate tissue of her fin again. This time Ariel grit her teeth together hard, trying with all her might to prevent any sounds from escaping her lips. Apparently that wasn't good enough for Felix, so once more he slid the knife all the way down forcing a high-pitched scream out of her.

"Wendy couldn't handle her punishment all that well I must tell you," Pan continued to narrate as though nothing was out of the ordinary. "It was over far too soon. So you see Ariel, we are more than willing to make up for it with you. Let's see how well you do..."

Ariel felt exhausted and sick. She took a brief glance down at the end of her fin and she immediately closed her eyes. It was too horrible to look at and seemed to intensify her pain even further.

"Ariel," Pan called to her. "You know what to do to save yourself."

She knew. All too well, but she had to be strong. What she didn't know, was how much longer she could stay this strong. Would he eventually kill her? In that case she might aswell keep her mouth shut till the end.

"Ah but you don't wish to save yourself," he continued. "No you wish to save the boy instead. That's very foolish of you Ariel."

Pan was starting to lose his patience and Felix noticed this. Time to change gears. He would rather avoid Pan having to use his magic on her. This mermaid was his to torment.

"I suggest you talk now mermaid," Felix drawled. "Or else this is gonna get a lot more painful for you." To demonstrate exactly how painful, he took hold of one of her scales, placed his knife under it and sliced.

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><p>Most nights were restless for Hook. He never did sleep easily on this island. Always worried about being ambushed, but it had been an extremely long day and he felt himself drift off into a deep slumber. Before long muddled images of his days in Neverland swam around in his subconscious mind, until one image became quite clear. As clear as day, for a moment he thought he had woken up again. But the thought was quickly left forgotten when he saw movement up ahead.<p>

Hook was standing a little while away. He immediately recognized his surroundings. The mermaids' lagoon. Mermaids... cursed creatures, he thought with a scowl. And yet, there had been that one... Forgetting the thought as quickly as it had come to him when he saw two people emerging from the water. One a man, the other a woman. There was something familiar about the man... He took a step closer and then saw who he was looking at. Himself. This was no dream, this had happened before. He remembered as he witnessed it right before his own eyes.

A young redheaded woman was gathering all her strength to pull the man in her arms, safely back on dry land. She was dragging her fin behind her as she crawled further onto the shore. His almost drowned self hadn't noticed this, but he was certainly aware of it now. Both lay there panting for a few moments. Her hand was on his chest, she could feel his heart racing. The woman smiled. She had saved the man. Thankfully.

Hook could see himself opening his eyes. He remembered that exact moment. He was seeing a woman slightly hovering over him. Such beauty. That smile.

"You saved me," was all that he managed to think of saying.

"I did. It's kinda what I do," she answered with a small dose of pride in her voice. Smiling brightly at the handsome man before her. "What's your name sailor?"

"It's Killian, Killian Jones."

Her eyes very nearly lit up. She liked that name.

"Nice to make your acquaintance Killian. My name's Ariel." Again with that beautiful smile. A man would almost forget that not but a minute ago he was fighting for his life.

Hook observed himself sitting up and looking down at the drenched clothing that was clinging heavily to his body and he knew exactly what would come next. He had spotted the scales. A fin. His eyes went wide and then a sneering scowl appeared on his face.

"You're a mermaid," he spat out the word with disgust. Ariel's eyes went sad, her smile fading.

"Get away from me you cursed siren!"

Fearing he might be dragged under water once more by this treacherous sea witch he pushed her off of him and slashed her with his hook. She landed in the shallow waters of the shore. Just below her color bone was now a deep red line. Blood poured out of the wound, her hand pressed against it.

"I was only trying to help," was her last effort to try and make it clear to him that she was no threat at all. Her eyes were pleading with him to believe her, but this man did not wish to hear it. He came at her with the hook raised in the air, ready to strike down at her. She gasped and slipped back into the depths of the lagoon, coloring it red as she went.

With a startle he woke up. Ariel. How could he have forgotten her. How had he allowed himself to push her out of his memories. And why had this memory surfaced now? In a dream no less. Had it been the rum? Or had it been Neverland? The island always did seem to confront you with your worst mistakes and deepest regrets in the most torturous manner. He had to stand witness to his unforgivable behaviour. Faced with the kind of man he used to be. Or still was?

He hadn't thought about Ariel in forever. So much so, that he had began to wonder whether that entire incident had been a dream all along. He'd had more than his fair share of interactions with mermaids, none of them had ever ended well. Mermaids lie, however, this one was different. He had seen truth in her eyes. Up until just now he had assumed he would never find out whether he had imagined that look in her eyes or not. Suddenly the haze he had found himself in since he got here disappeared. He felt purpose in his heart. Why, he didn't know, but it felt too important to ignore.

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><p>Ariel was lying on the ground. Barely conscious. Blood all around her. Not an inch of her tail was intact. Scales were missing and the end of her fin was a horrific sight to look at. Where was her prince? Her knight in shining armour? Or even just a friend. Anyone at all to save her from the clutches of these vile boys.<p>

One of those vile boys stood admiring his handiwork from a small distance, wiping his hands clean of the blood with a dirty cloth. As fun as this had been, Pan needed his answers, so he strode over to Felix and took the knife from him. He turned around and looked thoughtfully down at Ariel, trying to decide which course of action to take now. As he walked over to her, he noticed her shy away from him. Smart girl, he thought, her instincts were telling her to flee from him. That meant he had instilled enough fear in her to manipulate her. He crouched down beside Ariel, grabbed a handful of her red locks and tugged so hard he could feel some of the roots depart with her scalp.

"We could do this all day Ariel," he said, giving a wave with the knife. "Just tell me what I need to know and I'll have you patched up in no time at all."

He could tell she wanted it to stop, wanted relief. More than anything. Looking at her, he could understand why. She was a mess. Felix really did a number on her.

Perhaps it was time for charm now. He let go of her hair and brushed a strand of it out of her face. He smiled compassionately at her as he tilted her head by her chin. "Have you had enough? Because I can make it stop you know. All you have to do is tell me what Rumpelstiltskin sent you to retrieve."

He could see the struggle within her and he knew he was close. "You have my word, Ariel. I'll not harm you any further."

Tears streamed down her face. Her heart was breaking because she was about to do the one thing she vowed never to do. All she could do was hope Rumpelstiltskin and the others had configured their plans by now. Hopefully she had at the very least been able to stall for them.

"A box..." her breathing was heavy, "he needed a box. One that... contains the world's darkest evil."

Pan's eyes widened as the realization hit him.

"Pandora's box," they both uttered at the same time.

Oh that son of his, very clever indeed. Resourceful he had become. Had he fully accepted their kinship he might have felt a hint of pride within his heart. Best to check if the mermaid was telling the truth though. There was no reason he should blindly trust her. It was entirely possible she was lying to him.

"Keep your eye on her Felix," he ordered while turning around to walk away, leaving Ariel alone with her tormentor.

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><p><strong>Additional AN: This is just crap writing really, but honestly had I spent another minute on this chapter, I might have chucked the towel in completely.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Well hello, look who's got a new chapter hot off the press. :D Ok ok it's lukewarm by now. Thank you, to those who reviewed and those who keep being patient enough to wait for my updates. Oh and perhaps I should warn you, there's a bit more torture near the end. Very brief though. ****Ariel's gonna be ok, I promise, but uhm... not right now. Sorry, don't kill me.**

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><p>Finally they were on the move. Hook, along with all the others, trailed behind Tinkerbell making their way to Pan's hideout. He'd been going stir crazy not being able to do much more than wait around for Pan's next move. Now they were taking the fight to him. He was ready. More than. Long enough had that boy been toying with them all. It needed to end and this was the beginning of it.<p>

"Sober today Hook? How unlike you," Snow teased while walking up to the pirate.

"Thought I'd give it a try," he replied, appearing nonchalant about it.

Fact of the matter was, ever since that dream he felt that for one reason or another he needed to have a clear head. Something was about to happen. He just didn't know what. Hook wasn't the sort of man to believe in destiny or foreshadowing, but here in Neverland it was in your best interest never to ignore your gut feelings.

After a long while of trekking without a hitch, something was heard rustling in the bushes up ahead. Everyone was immediately alert and drew whatever weapon they had chosen to bring. Soon they all stood down when Rumpelstiltskin and Regina emerged from the trees. Up until now Hook had barely spared a thought to either one of them. They'd both left the group, finding themselves more successful on their own. So far though, Pan was still alive. Therefor he doubted they had accomplished much on their little solitary endeavor.

Regina, however, thought differently. She explained that their absence had been spent retrieving a box. Pandora's box, to be exact. Pirates always told the tallest of tales about this magical item. Hook had thought it mythical as well as magical, but here it was, in the crocodile's hands. A feeling of apprehension took hold of the pirate. Such a powerful weapon in the possession of his sworn enemy made him feel on edge.

Even more so when Neal, the man he once knew as a boy named Baelfire, decided to speak up. A prophecy? This was all news to Hook. Although it shouldn't surprise him that the Dark One would be in this for his own gain. After a lot of bickering and accusations being thrown around, it was decided that Neal should carry the box. Hook was content with anyone being the guardian of their weapon against Pan, so long as they could be on the move again. He was quickly tiring of Neverland and its ruler.

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><p>Pan had been following the group for a while now. They were on their way to his camp. Led by that treacherous ex-fairy. He'd deal with her later. First things first, the box. He had already spotted Rumpelstiltskin along with the Queen and lo and behold, the mermaid was telling the truth. The box. Ever so slightly out of his reach. Oh but not for long.<p>

He watched Rumpelstiltskin hand over the box to Neal, who put it in his bag. This was the time to strike.

"Well well, what do we have here? On our way to see _me_?" he said, putting a hand over his heart as though he was flattered by their efforts to get to him. Weapons were drawn all around him and he received a threatening look from the Evil Queen herself.

"I would have come to see you, you know. All you had to do was invite me."

"Cut the crap Pan. We're here for Henry," Emma retorted.

"Oh I know, unfortunately he's not here for _you_. He's quite disappointed in you saviour. Not quite living up to the name are you? He thought you'd have come for him by now."

Emma cast her eyes to the ground, trying to ignore the tug her heart gave when thinking about letting down Henry.

"Speaking of disappointment... Tink," he directed his attention towards the small fairy. The eyes with which he stared her down said it all. She'd broken his trust and while she stood her ground, he knew that on the inside she was shaking with fear. She was aware of the consequences. In the end he'd have her pay for her betrayal.

"Enough of this," Regina cut in and formed a fireball in her hand ready to incinerate the boy. Pan simply waved his hand in a half circle and the fire was now ice. Regina pulled her hand back and the ball of ice shattered to the ground.

"Impressive," he said, unimpressed. "Is that all you've got?"

"It's not all," Neal replied.

Ah yes, on topic at last. A grin spread over his face.

"What? You think a little box is going to keep me from achieving my goal?" Pan asked.

The stares on their faces were priceless. Did these fools really think they could defeat him? That he wouldn't find out about their plan until it was too late? This was his island. He knew everything that went on here.

Hook took a step forward. "How do you even know about it, mate?"

"Let's just say... a little fish whispered it to me."

Faces of shock and confusion all around.

"Oh yes, she was very helpful... with a little encouragement from me of course," he added.

His eyes were trained on Hook, searching for a sign that the man Ariel spoke of saving was indeed Hook. There it was. A shimmer of recognition. He really did know the little mermaid then. That was very good to know.

Rumpelstiltskin looked at Regina. "I thought you said this mermaid was different."

"What mermaid?" both Hook and Snow blurted out before Pan had even the chance to answer.

Time to make use of that trick he perfected oh so long ago. Now that none of the attention was on him, Pan focused his mind on the box. Envisioned its appearance. Imagined it in his possession. He felt a weight in his hands and he quickly shoved them behind his back while opening his eyes. All that was left to do, was to create a fake one inside the bag carried by Neal, which was easy enough. He took one last look at the group, shook his head in amusement and vanished from their sight.

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><p>Lying restlessly, still in her cage was Wendy Darling. Her eyes were drooping and she could feel herself slip into a deep sleep. At last. She'd been thinking and tossing and turning and she could not for the life of her find a comfortable enough position to lie in. Not with the injuries she had acquired ever so recently. Just as she surrendered to the darkness she heard footsteps. Her eyes shot open.<p>

"Evening Wendy," Pan said casually.

"Would you come out for me?" he asked as though she actually had the power to decide whether or not she'd leave the cage. The door opened and he stood waiting. For a split second she considered denying him her obedience. Her heart raced at the excitement of the thought. 'Yes, show him you can't order people around like animals', was what a little rebellious voice inside her said.

As swiftly as the thought had come to her, it fled from her mind again once Pan spoke her name in such a tone that did not tolerate misbehaviour. She crawled out slowly and he waited patiently for her to stand up. She wasn't very steady on her feet. Pan looked at her for the first time since he'd left her with Felix. The corner of his mouth curled up at what he saw before him. She was in bad shape and he had put her in it. Her left eye was swollen, her arms were covered in bruises and her nightgown was stained with blood. A shame he'd have to conceal all of that for his next move on Henry.

She saw him conjure a small satchel in his hand and take out a small vial with a fine sort of powder in it. Pixie dust. Her eyes were fixated on it. She'd heard the supply was running low and from what she could see he just took the second to last vial. An idea popped into her head. This dust could come in handy. One day, perhaps soon, she might have need for it.

"I'm going to heal your injuries, because I need you to do one last thing for me."

Wendy groaned inwardly, but kept a calm exterior. She didn't want to do anything that might make him change his mind about healing her. She'd welcome any sort of relief from the dull pain and if that meant reining in her true feelings, she would do it. Her time would come. She could feel it. This boy Pan cared about so much, he would change things, she just knew it.

"Can't have Henry thinking you've been hurt now can we?" he continued as he put down the satchel while watching the dust do its work on her wounds. When the job was finished he waved his hand at her gown and suddenly it was spotless again.

As the pain slowly dissipated, Wendy stared at the small bag holding the last of the pixie dust. Pan wasn't paying it any attention. Probably didn't think leaving dust unattended near her would be such a bad thing. It wasn't like him to underestimate anyone. On the other hand, even Wendy herself would never have thought she'd have the courage to steal from him. Yet suddenly without really knowing what she was doing she let herself fall to the ground. As quick as she could she slipped the last vial out of the satchel and clenched it in her fist.

Pan rolled his eyes and sighed. "Don't be dramatic Wendy. Get up." She looked up at him trying to feign dizziness. He stared back at her, squinting his eyes, appearing to be searching for something. When he found nothing suspicious he bent down and grabbed her arm. As he pulled her up to her feet, he hissed, "No tricks understood. Or I'll have you so broken no amount of pixie dust in all the realms could fix you."

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><p>As the night fell, one of the lost boys lit up the campfire. Ariel, who lay close enough to feel the warmth of the flames, had been left unattended without being bound for a while now. What would be the point? She couldn't move, she could hardly breathe. But apparently it was still thought her best be tied up again, because there was Felix holding a rope in his hands. As odd as it was, a wave a of relief came over Ariel. At least there would be no more pain. The torture had ended and now she was to be tied back up again. Until Pan returned and then she'd be let go. Right?<p>

The boy stopped in front of her, feet placed directly before her. She tried to look up at him, but found she hadn't the energy for it. She let out a sigh and gently rested her head on the ground again. Not particularly wishing to see the boy's face anyway, despite the perilous feeling of being watched without being able to see them do it.

Felix noticed her efforts and saw that she was exhausted. So he lowered himself to her level. He tilted her head up gently, or was that, cautiously? You never did know with these monstrous creatures of course. He tucked a strand of bloodied hair behind her ear. She was a beauty. So deceptive, Felix knew. He'd never fall for that again.

"You know," he started, prompting Ariel open her eyes to look at him, "Pan, thinks that you've been hurt enough." His other hand tightened around the rope. "I don't."

With him so close to her now, Ariel could see the scar more clearly than ever. As frightening as he appeared, she could still see traces of a boy once an innocent child. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that the cause of the scar was not the only reason his innocence was lost. She guessed Pan might have had a hand in turning him this way.

"Do you like games, fish?" Felix drawled lazily. "The lost boys, we love games. I know a fun game we could play. Peter taught me this game. It's called, How Long Can You Hold Your Breath For."

A shiver ran down Ariel's spine, she couldn't handle much more of this. "Please, I told you what you wanted to know."

"Pan cared about the answers _fish_. I care about seeing you in pain."

And without another word he wrapped the rope around her neck twice and pulled the ends away from each other.

Ariel's world was spinning, her hands flew up to Felix's wrists trying to make him budge, make him let go. But her strength had faded, there was almost none left. Just as she was about to pass out, Felix let the rope loosen. She gasped for air. Once she had steadied her breathing, he tightened the rope again.

"I'm disappointed fish, I thought your kind knew how to hold your breath."

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><p><strong>Additional AN: There was actually more to this chapter, but I wanted to stay consistent with the sizes of the chapters. Sorry lilyaudet. ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I think I should take a moment to thank all the followers. I'm so glad you're enjoying the story. Also thanks to lilyaudet of course, my most faithful reviewer. Oh and, just one more chapter (this chapter) after which there will finally be some Hookrielness. Cross my heart.**

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><p>Hook and Snow shot each other confused looks, both wondering why the other was so adamant to figure out which mermaid had helped Regina and Rumpelstiltskin.<p>

"We... received some assistance from a mermaid named Ariel. She's the one who helped us get the box from Gold's shop," Regina explained, giving Snow a significant look. Neither of them had forgotten their history with Ariel.

Upon hearing the mermaid's name Snow raised her eyebrows in surprise. It had been such a long time since she last saw her sea dwelling friend. A land such as Neverland was the last place she expected to see Ariel in. Snow glanced briefly at Hook. He seemed more panic-stricken than anything.

"She told you her name was Ariel? You're certain?" he inquired urgently.

"Yes, we're quite sure. Why? You know her?" Regina looked at him curiously.

Before Hook could answer, a small voice in a peculiar accent sounded. It was Tinkerbell. "Guys, where's Pan?" Having forgotten they'd been talking to the boy only minutes ago, everyone scanned the area around them frantically yet found him nowhere.

"Well he's gone so let's get on with it," Emma replied with a sigh, already taking a step closer to their goal.

"Wait! We have to save her," Snow said resolutely.

Regina rolled her eyes. She was about done with all the dawdling; they could be finding her son by now. "We don't have time to save everyone," she declared, remembering that Ariel had already burdened them with the task of finding a girl named Wendy. "We need to make Henry a priority!"

"I am not leaving her there with him!" Snow yelled angrily. "We can get Henry and save Ariel too. I am not letting him destroy anymore lives. She's my friend. And she _helped_ us. Now it's our turn to help her."

"Mary Margaret..," Emma started before she was cut off.

"Look," Snow continued, "you guys have the shadow, you go find Henry and I'll look for Ariel. It's likely that she'll be near Pan's hideout, but he'd probably want to isolate her. You guys go with Tink and I'll scout around the area of the camp. She should be close enough. Wait for me at the campsite. By the time I get back we all leave together. Henry and Ariel included."

"How will we know how long to wait? You might not even find her. She might already be dead," Regina protested, obviously worried that if they had to stay any longer than necessary, they might never get off this godforsaken island.

"Well, the more time we spend lingering here, the most likely it will be that she is. I'm a good tracker, I _will_ find her. And if she's no longer alive, I'm sure it won't take me long to find that out either," Snow responded, sounding oddly disengaged.

The group quickly understood that they would not be able to talk her out of this, since she was already packing her bow and arrows. Charming, however, had a different idea. "You can't go alone, how do we know Pan won't have you captured too? I'm not going to lose you now, we've come so far."

Snow was about to protest, with a bunch of examples in which she had been perfectly capable of looking after herself against the most formidable of foes, let alone a group of teenagers, when someone else spoke before her. "I'll go with her." They all turned their attention towards the man who had stayed suspiciously quiet throughout Snow's arguments. Hook.

Every single pair of eyes exuded confusion of some kind or another, yet it was Charming who looked the most puzzled of all. "You? Will protect Snow?" The pirate may have saved his life earlier, but to place his trust in him with the love of his life was going a bit too far, too soon.

"Look, _mate_, you may not trust me, but trust that I want the mermaid back as much as your lovely wife does," Hook said.

"I thought you hated mermaids. What do you stand to gain from it?" Charming asked, still suspicious.

"This particular one... she saved my life once. It's simply good form to return the favour," Hook tried to sound as casual as he could. God forbid anyone knew he actually cared about anyone but himself.

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><p>After putting on a nice show for Henry, reminding him again how very sick poor little Wendy was, Pan left the boy to prepare for his big moment as 'the hero who saves magic'. It had taken him some effort to get him to believe magic was dying, but he always knew he would eventually succeed. The only thing he hadn't counted on was that pesky family of his. They'd become quite the nuisance. Then there was that son of his. Enlisting the help of a mermaid to trap him, how very annoying. Soon enough though, none of them would pose a threat to his cause. Nothing would be able to stop him, once he obtained the heart of the truest believer. Only a few more hours before he'd be rid of them all.<p>

He arrived back at the camp and looked around for Felix, but found only Ariel, lying motionless on the ground, her breathing shallow. She looked to be in worse shape than when he had left her. He suspected Felix had something to do with that. He'd taught him well. It was a beautiful sight really, someone so broken. To think one could have the power to reduce another to nothing more than a fragmented mess. An eternally youthful life would give him such power indefinitely.

Pan got on one knee to bring himself closer to Ariel's level. Gently he placed a hand on her arm and pushed her over on her back. "Look at you. All that blood." When Ariel finally opened her eyes she could see him looking at her with an expression she surely knew she imagined. Caring. About her dismal state of being. No. Peter Pan cared for no one, least of all her.

"How about we get you cleaned up, hm?"

He observed Ariel a moment longer as if waiting for her to concur, then looked around and pointed at a young lost boy who was busy collecting the pots and pans for washing.

"You! Fetch me some water."

The boy, slightly startled to be addressed by his leader, nodded and started to walk off, but before he disappeared from sight completely, Pan yelled after him, "Not from the well." Confusion flashed across the boy's face, if not from the well, where was he supposed to get the water from? As he stood there beholding the mermaid in all her agony, it dawned on him. He gave yet another curt nod, took a left turn and was gone.

With a satisfied smirk, Pan's attention was again focused on Ariel. Back on his feet, he started to pace around her. "Paid your _friends_ a nice visit. I told them I had you, you know." That of course wasn't entirely true, he hadn't outright told them Ariel was the one he was holding captive. Still, they knew very well who it was that he'd been talking about.

"Got the impression they weren't too eager to save you though. It's funny, really, for all the lives you've saved, not one of them will save you," he concluded as he came to a standstill. A small, almost undetectable tear slipped from one of her closed eyes. At this point all she wanted was for him to end it. One way or another.

"This is what caring for others gets you, Ariel. Nothing."

From the way he spoke, one might think he was sharing with her his most valuable life lesson. Not but moment later the boy who had been ordered to retrieve water, came back with a bucket full of it. It had been collected from the ocean, she could smell it. Ariel managed a small smile despite her pain. The prospect of feeling water on her skin, fresh and clean, soothed her entire essence. For being on dry land so long, she'd managed well enough, but her scales were so incredibly parched; a few moments more and she would succumb to the dehydration.

Wait, from the ocean? Just as the realisation set in, Pan emptied the contents of the bucket with a splash all over Ariel. She hissed as the salty liquid came in contact with her skin, nestling deep in her open wounds.

"There, that's better," he said while giving her the once over. "Time to relocate you."

"You're not letting me go?"

His only answer was a fiendish grin.

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><p>"So are we set to go or what?" Snow asked, approaching Hook and Charming but not really addressing either of them directly. She wasn't exactly thrilled to have to be escorted by the pirate, but they were wasting time and she just wanted to get on the move.<p>

"Aye, we are," Hook answered.

Charming looked from Hook to Snow, deliberating. "I'm coming with," he firmly declared.

Exasperated sighs sounded all around them.

"What? David, no. The more people come, the easier it'll be for Pan to spot us. And Emma needs you. Besides I'm not alone, I'll be safe with... Hook," she awkwardly gestured in his direction, feeling a bit unfamiliar with the thought of Hook actually protecting anyone other than himself. It was the weakest of all her arguments, but her reasons seemed to appeal to the prince nonetheless, because he nodded in defeat. He knew of course that Snow was skilled at survival, but that never stopped him from worrying about her. At least she was with someone who knew the island and was also skillful at surviving. Charming got the impression that had he not been, Hook would be dead a thousand times by now.

"Alright," Charming said as he kissed Snow's forehead, "just be careful."

Hook stood impatiently waiting for the two lovers to say their farewells and Regina couldn't resist rolling her eyes at the mushy display of affection. "Good, can we finally be on our way then?" she loudly announced.

"Yes, let's get going," Snow nodded to Hook, who then proceeded to follow her, away from the group. As they hiked through the savage bushes and dense tree covered areas, she glanced back at him from time to time, making sure he was keeping up with her pace.

"Can't take your eyes off me love?" he teased.

As much as Snow had grown tired of his constant flirtatious ways, she couldn't help but crack a smile. She was glad her back was towards the pirate, otherwise he'd never let her live it down. Nevertheless a bit of humour certainly didn't hurt in this dismal place Peter Pan called home. She herself had lived in some dodgy areas, cold nights spent outside in the forest, but the skies had never been as dark as they were here. Back home it seemed more inviting. Not intimidating and daunting. She could almost understand why Pan had taken it upon himself to collect lost boys from other realms. She imagined that being alone on an island such as this could turn your heart quite lonely very quickly.

"Actually, no. After all I have to be sure you won't fall behind." Snow shot him a look. Knowing full well what that look was for, he gave her a mischievous grin before turning quite serious. "Sorry love, force of habit, I suppose..." his voice trailing off.

Snow's brows furrowed in confusion. "Is that all it is Hook? Habit?"

He didn't answer her, because he was as unsure as ever. He'd lost the ability to differentiate between habitual flirtation and real affection or even love. Perhaps he'd lost the ability to love completely.

Snow couldn't figure him out. Hook was the type of person to only look out for number one, but here he was, off to rescue a mermaid alongside herself. There was undoubtably more to him than it might seem on the surface.

"So she saved you huh?" she asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Aye," was his short reply.

"Then how come you seemed less than enthusiastic about mermaids when one of them was on your ship?"

"Because it was other mermaids she was saving me from." It had been after another tedious battle with Pan. He had cheated and used his magic to land the captain in the waters of the lagoon. He'd have been torn to pieces had it not been for that beautiful woman with the long red manes who had pulled him back on land.

"Might've been less appreciative than I should have been." He stared at the ground before him, remembering that he hadn't exactly expressed any gratitude for her efforts. In fact he had cursed at her and attacked her. Not to mention inadvertently caused all kinds of small cuts with his hook when he had tried hold on to her while swimming up to the surface.

"So now you feel like you owe it to her to rescue her in return?"

Her question contained the answer, but he wanted to say out loud that yes he had felt a surge of guilt go through him when the Dark One and the Queen revealed it was Ariel who had helped them get the box to trap Pan. Not a single thought had he spared her since that day. He had no idea why these feelings suddenly emerged now. Perhaps it was part of the continuous change within himself since he stepped into the lives of these people. A change he wasn't all too sure about liking. What ever it was, he needed to correct his mistake.

"Aye... it's the very least she deserves from me."

Snow smiled as an image of the friendly girl popped into her mind. "She saved me too. Once..."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey people! I'm so excited about this chapter. I laid a lot of groundwork for this, let's hope it paid off. Time to rescue Ariel! **

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><p>After leaving the mermaid for dead, Felix had retreated to his hut. He had no idea if she was really dead, nor did he care. He'd lost his humanity a long time ago. Once there might have been a time when he would have been disgusted with his actions against Ariel. But not anymore. There were no emotions, no regrets, no guilt. Peter taught him how to eliminate feelings like that. This was perhaps the reason he felt no loss either. The loss of the person he used to be. Carefree, kind and innocent.<p>

Naive was more like it, he thought, as a scowl appeared across his face. Those days, those memories, felt more and more like a different life with each passing day. It was a different life. Was it even his life? Slowly but surely he'd started to care less and less about the answer.

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><p>The journey through the jungle had been shorter than Hook expected. One could say a lot of things about the hope preaching princess in front of him, but her tracking skills were not exaggerated. She was good. Very good. In no time at all she'd picked up a trail that had led straight to the edge of Pan's camp.<p>

"Wait... I think I got something..." Snow said in a hushed tone of voice, "just up here."

Hook followed closely behind, sword drawn in case of any lost boys guarding the place. His heart rate picked up. He was hoping Ariel was here, just the feeling of the place gave him the creeps and he'd hate to think of a good soul like Ariel being left to fend for herself in such an environment. Snow made a noise that he could only interpret as having successfully found Ariel. Hook could not suppress a broad smile, nor would he have wanted to. He was relieved to have found her, he felt no need to hide his elation.

All relief instantly evaporated when they arrived at the sight of Ariel positioned on the ground tied to a tree with rope, in the very same position she'd been put when the lost boys first captured her. She was lying perfectly still. Snow cried out her name while she rushed towards the battered mermaid, tears clouding her vision. Hook just stood there, frozen, unable to speak a word. Never has he seen something so gruesome.

On their way to find Ariel, Snow had told him all about how she'd only ever known the mermaid to be kindhearted and always helpful, never a harsh word spoken from her lips. Looking at her now made him wonder how anyone could destroy such innocence? The end of her fin was shredded and some of her scales were missing. There was dried up blood everywhere.

"Ariel?" Snow found it hard to keep her voice steady. A tear fell down her cheek when she saw the mermaid who had twice saved her life, look so torn.

She shook her friend's arm ever so gently. Hearing a breath escape Ariel's lips caused Snow's heart to skip a beat. "She's still alive!" Snow yelled at Hook. This seemed to snap him out of his daze and he also came rushing over to the two women on the ground.

"What did he do to her?" was all Hook could breathlessly utter. Eyes roaming over her numerous wounds. So many emotions rushed through the core of his body, he could hardly tell them apart. Where these feelings came from he did not question, the only thing he had attention for was Ariel's well being.

"She's alive, but unconscious... She'll make it," Snow stated with firm conviction. Both rescuers knew that Snow was no doctor, but neither of them allowed any other outcome to be truth. Ariel was going to be fine and that was that.

"She might! Mind you she wouldn't be in the shape she is now had she just given up the information I asked for right away." Pan shook his head as if thoroughly disappointed.

"Stubborn girl," he added for good measure, while eyeing Ariel with a smug smile.

"You! You did this!" Hook stood up and charged at Pan, who saw him coming and waved his hand creating an invisible force that landed him right next to Ariel.

"Oh no, I didn't do anything to her. It was Felix who had a field day with her," Pan objected with a bright smile. "Although I might have my own fun with her later," he added, having no such intention yet knowing it would get under the pirate's skin.

Before any more words could be exchanged, Snow fired an arrow at Pan. He caught it right in his hand. "Now that's not very nice," he said while inspecting the arrow.

Snow didn't miss a beat, a second one whizzed in his direction. Again narrowly caught before it pierced his chest. However, his reflexes didn't match up to Snow's wit. Having Pan out of hands to catch arrows with, Snow grinned and took aim, she released the final arrow. All this happened within mere seconds and before Pan had time to drop the ones in his hands, the third arrow hit him hard. A few inches lower and it would've punctured his rotten heart. He stumbled back and while he was most certainly in pain, he simply couldn't help himself. He shot Snow a grin so eerie, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

"Hook! Go!" she yelled over her shoulder. The captain, already way ahead of her, was in the process of lifting the mermaid up in his arms after he cut her bonds with his sword. Snow backed away and started to make a run for it.

"Don't forget this!" Pan yelled as he flung Ariel's bracelet over to Snow. Quick as a flash she turned around and caught it in one hand. For the briefest of moments she looked at the boy with utter confusion. Why did he give her back the one thing that could make Ariel walk again? If he wanted to be cruel, wouldn't he keep it from her forever? But he was cruel, Snow reminded herself. She only had to look at her friend to know it. Not willing to waste any more time on pondering this puzzle of a boy she turned away and ran after Hook who by now was quite a few steps ahead of her. She quickly caught up with them and they all slowed down considerably once they were a significant distance away from Pan.

"He let us go," Snow breathed heavily to no one in particular. "Why would he do that?" she asked herself, scanning her brain frantically for the answer.

"Why does Pan ever do anything?" Hook countered irritably. He was completely fed up with this boy who had terrorized him and anyone who had ever stepped foot on this damn piece of land. Perhaps that was indeed the answer. There was no rhyme or reason to Peter Pan's actions. He simply lived. Not much caring for profound meanings.

Both Hook and Snow were ripped from their thoughts by a small sound that came from the spot where Hook had gently placed down Ariel. They rushed to her side. Snow crouched down next to her and brushed a few strands of hair from her face. Ariel opened her eyes. Even in her misery her smile was still the most radiant. "Snow? Is that you?" Snow's eyes filled with tears, part of them were of sadness and part of them were of happiness. Her expression softened as she whispered, "Yeah it's me. You're safe now." She took hold of her friend's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Hook stood a little further away, not wanting to scare her. He looked down at both women and then scanned the area around them. "Well, we're not entirely safe until we get back to the others," he replied to Snow's claim. He didn't want to break up the reunion, nor did he want to instill panic in either one of the women, however, he knew they were at risk of being ambushed all the same. Pan may have let them go, that didn't mean he couldn't change his mind.

Ariel looked up at the man standing next to her. There was something familiar about him.

"You... you're that sailor."

She narrowed her eyes straining her memory, "Killian Jones."

She said his name, she remembered him. How could she not? How many one-handed pirates could she possibly have saved in her lifetime? He didn't know how to feel about it and he didn't wish to get into it at the moment. So he ignored her and the look Snow was giving him. He sent her one of his own, letting her know this conversation would have to wait for another, more convenient time.

"We must continue on," he concluded.

Hook bent down to pick up Ariel again, when Snow suddenly remembered the bracelet she was still clasping tightly in her hand. It was not lost on Hook that Ariel had shied away from him ever so subtly. Frightened eyes trained on his hooked arm. A pang of guilt struck his heart.

"I have the bracelet," Snow almost yelled and held it up in the air like a prize.

"Do you think you will be able to walk after you put it on?" she asked Ariel, hoping that with the disappearance of her fin, so would go the injuries inflicted upon it. The redhead shrugged, not really knowing the answer either. "There's only one way to find out," she extended her arm to Snow who slipped the bracelet carefully around her wrist. It still worked! Her legs magically appeared where her bloodied fin had been just seconds ago. Hook had a hard time looking away and so he stopped trying and simply admired her beautiful unmarked skin. Ariel let out a relieved cry of laughter and Snow hugged her, equally happy to see the ugly wounds vanish before her eyes.

Gently Snow helped Ariel up, it was then that it dawned on Hook that she was actually without any clothing, so he quickly turned his eyes away from her. Then the moment her feet touched the ground she cried out. Tears sprung in her eyes from the sudden sharp pains in the soles of her feet. "What? What's wrong?" Snow's panicked voice urged her friend to speak up.

"It hurts," was all Ariel managed to utter. She no longer had the strength to bear the torturous stabbing sensation and so she fell back to the ground. Hook's heart gave a tug at the sounds of her agony. His eyes fell on the bracelet. He knelt down beside her and grabbed her wrist in his hand. He studied the ornament. His head moved up the moment he realised what went wrong. His eyes darkened, in fact there seemed a storm brewing within them. "He enchanted it," Hook gritted through his teeth. Unbelievable, even after everything he's put her through, it wasn't enough for him. He had to torture her even in his absence.

"He what?!" Snow was enraged now, she had half a mind to march right back up to Pan and finish the job she had started. Hook looked up at Snow, but he didn't actually know what to say. He was no good at comforting people. He was just as pissed off as Snow was. So he decided to take the only course of action possible. They had to move. While they were still breathing. He felt he had to be the Captain now. Take charge. Lead the way. And so he took off his coat, draped it around Ariel who gingerly slipped her arms in its sleeves. He then picked her up, wrapping his left arm underneath her legs, careful enough not to cut her with his hook.

"Let's go," was all he said. There was nothing they could do to counter the spell put on the bracelet. It was either this, or let her legs turn back into a fin all cut up and bleeding, not to mention be confronted with a very visual reminder of what Pan had done to her.

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><p><strong>Additional AN: So... did we like it? Or not? **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Well well, seems like I've gotten my rhythm back. Probably because we've arrived at the point of the story that I've had planned for such a long time now. There's even an impromptu TinkerHook moment. That was unplanned, but apparently I can't help myself. I just love writing Tink and Hook friendshipness.****  
><strong>

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><p>That clever little princess. No one had ever gotten a clear shot at him before. It wasn't a very deep wound, the blood made it seem worse than it was. All the same, left unattended it could do him some damage. Pan thought back to the pirate and the way he had rushed to his mermaid's defence, he looked positively enraged. He smiled as he recalled the fire he saw burning in Hook's eyes. He wondered what on the earth the mermaid was to him and how he could use that against him in the future.<p>

He conjured up his satchel with the pixie dust, only to find that it was empty. A puzzled look crossed Pan's face. He knew for sure he had one vial left. No... it couldn't be... An image of a fainting Wendy appeared in his mind's eye. She didn't. Did she? Dare steal from him? Oh he had underestimated the little brat. He hated to be outsmarted, by a girl no less! After a few deep breaths he gathered himself again. No matter, just another person on the list to obliterate once he'd become immortal. A list that seemed to be getting longer and longer by the minute.

Still his injury needed healing before he joined Henry on his journey to Skull Rock. A simple bandage would have to do for now. He changed his shirt as to not give away that anything had happened. He didn't need Henry asking questions, he needed him focused solely on _saving magic_.

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><p>Guilt. Guilt and regret. Those were the only two things on Wendy's mind and in her heart. She shifted lightly in the cage that, for once, was set down on the ground. That boy. He had no idea what kind of trap lay before him. And she helped guide him to his demise. How could she ever forgive herself for such a thing?<p>

In the distance, several voices interrupted the deep thought Wendy found herself in. They didn't come from Pan or any of the lost boys. They came from... adults! She grabbed the bars of the crate and yelled out for help as loud as she could.

Her cries were met by a blonde woman who, when she caught sight of the caged girl, immediately rushed over to her. Then, another man emerged from the trees followed by one other. He looked so familiar, but Wendy had no idea why. She hadn't seen any adults for ages, but when he called her name, her heart almost stopped. He certainly seemed to know her.

He walked closer to her and as he said the words, her mind already knew it: it was Baelfire. He'd been alive and well all this time. He was alright. That's all she ever wished for. It was the entire reason for her journey to this island.

She watched, still stunned, as Bae grabbed a rock and smashed the lock open. The moment the door gave, she felt her muscles come back to life. She flew out of the cage into his arms. And just like that she was free.

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><p>Ariel's arms were around Hook's torso and her head rested against his chest. She had been wary of the pirate at first, but since he'd been working alongside Snow White, it appeared he wanted to help her. Beside that, she was too tired to be scared. She was too tired to be anything. She had no energy to resist or to question. There was a man here who did not try to threaten her, torture her, or get information out of her. That was all she needed to know. For now.<p>

She tried closing her eyes a few times, but images of that awful boy flashed before her in the darkness. She let out a sigh and opened her eyes once more. How could she keep them open forever? Would the visions of him ever disappear? She took a deep breath and in doing so, a scent reminiscent of the ocean filled her nostrils. A moment of peace caused her lips to curl up ever so slightly into a smile.

For a while now they'd been walking in silence, when Ariel decided to speak up.

"Thank you... for rescuing me."

Hook looked startled and searched for words, but before he found them, Snow beat him to it.

"Oh honey how could we not. Both of us, we owe you our lives. You saved us too remember. In fact you saved me twice," Snow nodded at her, reminding Ariel of her narrow escape from Regina's clutches. She had given up her happy ending to save her.

A moment later they all heard a rustling of bushes, right in front of them. Snow, alert as always, drew her bow and arrow in a flash. Ariel held her breath and clung on to Hook tighter just as he strengthened his hold on her.

Once they saw it was only Tinkerbell who had found them, Snow stood down, however, neither Hook nor Ariel loosened their grip on the other. At the sight of the pair, Tinkerbell raised her eyebrows. Given what she knew about Pan, she hadn't expected them to find Ariel, let alone to see her old friend look so protective of her.

Holding her hands up in defence, she cracked a grin at him. "Relax, I was sent to look for you. Come on, everyone's back at the camp already."

They had strayed further than Hook had initially thought, because the walk back took them a fair bit of time. Snow was walking a few paces behind to make sure they weren't being followed. Meanwhile, Ariel had fallen asleep in his arms. She looked so peaceful.

"If I'd known you were the type of man to carry around fair maidens like a knight in shining armour..." Tink gave her friend a sly smile. "You never swept me off my feet like that," she teased some more.

Hook let out a low chuckle. He couldn't quite determine which idea was more ludicrous, Tink as a fair maiden in peril, or himself as a knight who rescued fair maidens in peril.

"Oh Lady Bell, if only you had asked."

"You'd have saved my helpless self?"

"Certainly my fair maiden."

Tinkerbell giggled softly after which a long silence fell. She glanced over at Ariel and without taking her eyes off the girl, she started to ask, "Is she...?"

Hook briefly looked sideways at the fairy and then back at Ariel. "Pan cast a spell on the bracelet that grants her her legs. She can't walk without pain."

Tinkerbell winced involuntarily. "Then why not take it off?"

"For her to be in her mermaid form would be even worse." Hook's heart rate sped up. Thinking about it made him angry all over again. "She will recover. We will find a way."

Tinkerbell sighed lightly, "Good."

Of course she had felt a slight tinge of envy when she first laid eyes on the mermaid in Hook's arms. Yes, that jealousy of hers. Though, she knew exactly what it was like to be in Pan's clutches. If he wanted to harm you, you could bank on it, he wouldn't rest until he did. Getting on his bad side could mean your end. Which was exactly why it was so dangerous for her to defy him now, by helping these people. But she only had to take one look at Ariel to know she was doing the right thing.

That boy everyone was looking for, Henry, she couldn't possibly leave him to whatever fate Pan had in mind for him. And what of Wendy... how on earth she had survived this long was a mystery to Tinkerbell. What ever it was she had done to make it through, she must have paid a very steep price for it, of that Tink was sure.

Finally they reached the others. What they walked in on was quite the sight to behold. Lost boys strewn all around the camp, appearing to be asleep. Just how Hook liked them best. He looked down at the woman in his arms and nudged her gently to wake her up. When she did, for a split second she looked disoriented and her eyes were wide with fear again. However, once the moment had passed she remembered where she was and how she got there. The fear dissipated to make room for fatigue. Ariel remained quite tired, but she did her best not to fall straight back into a slumber. Hook put her down as gently as he could on the nearest tree stump, where she wrapped the heavy leather coat around herself more tightly. They shared no glances as he departed from her.

Ariel looked around her. There were Rumpelstiltskin and the Queen. They seemed to pay her no mind, which she was quite content with. She wished to be paid no attention. Surely they'd start with the questions again, just like they were doing to a disheveled looking girl now. She must be the girl they were meant to rescue. Wendy. Ariel was glad she was okay, since she hadn't forgotten the promise she and Belle had made to her brothers.

While some nearly attacked Wendy and others mistakenly thought she'd been working _for_ Pan, Ariel knew exactly why she was so hesitant to cross him. They both knew what he was capable of, but not many in the group seemed to understand that. They could never understand. None of them was to blame though, they were eager to find Henry and save him. Though the fear of this one boy had nearly crippled the young girl. That is why Ariel admired her even more so when she finally told them all of Pan's plans for Henry. If this whole operation fell apart, and Henry would not be saved, it'd be a fate worse than death for this girl. Not to mention everyone else. Wendy seemed to realise this as much as Ariel did, because she urged them to move quickly, to a place named Skull Rock.

In an instant the whole group was on the move. Snow and her husband left the camp to collect water from Neverland's spring. The Queen, Rumpelstiltskin, his son and Emma all left together in search of Henry. Ariel could do nothing but hope they'd not arrive too late.

Hook had volunteered to stay behind with Tink. He knew he could trust her and count on her if he needed a helping hand. The boy would be in goods hands with his family, but someone had to look after the mermaid. Ariel. She was sitting there, so still. No one had even noticed her presence. She simply and quietly beheld their every move. Every now and then a wary eye darted over the numerous lost boys. It was clear that she was still very much on guard.

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><p><strong>Additional AN: ****I have a question for you guys. I've been following the show's storyline fairly closely so far which means in a few chapters they will all return to Storybrooke and the second curse will be cast. So, question is, do we want me to kill Pan or do we want me to keep him alive?**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Check this out, chapter 10! Yay! Apologies for making you wait so long. I cannot believe how popular this story has become. You might not think it by the amount of reviews per chapter, BUT the amount of VIEWS are impressive. Thank you all so much for reading. A special thanks to all the new followers. You reminded me that there are readers out there who like this story and want to read more. That inspired me to keep going.**

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><p>Not long after Felix had rejoined the lost boys, he had felt himself grow weary. Quicker than usual one might say. On any other night it took him a while to catch his sleep. Here in Neverland there was a lot that could keep you up; sorrows, regrets, strange noises in the night. However, before Felix could even begin to question his acute lethargy, the slumber overtook him and his body slumped down to the ground.<p>

Once he finally awoke, the first thing he saw was the rest of the lost boys. All neatly tied up, sitting in little groups of three or four. Felix tried to move his arms, but he couldn't, finding he was also bound with rope. He scanned the compound some more and who should he find sitting across the clearing from him, but the mermaid. _With_ her legs. Anger welled up inside him. She was supposed to be dead. And her tail. All his fine work. Gone. He fixated his gaze on her, murdering her with his eyes.

It was as though she could feel his hatred assaulting her, because her eyes, wide with fear and abhorrence, shifted in his direction abruptly. Even from afar he could make out her trembling, though she attempted to hide it. A lazy grin slowly tugged on his lips, which made him look positively disturbed.

Ariel had a difficult time controlling her breathing. That boy being so close to her, within reach to... hurt her. She felt no longer safe or comfortable. Not even with Hook and Tinkerbell nearby. Flashes of Felix hovering over her, tightening that rope kept appearing before her mind's eye. Subconsciously her hand traveled to her neck caressing it softly.

All the while their wordless exchange was witnessed by Hook from a distance. When he looked back at Ariel one more time her demeanor had changed from relaxed to anxious and Hook decided to put a stop to Felix's intimidations. He walked over to him and seized him forcefully by his cloak.

"You're lucky I haven't buried my hook inside your heart yet, boy."

"Look who's still alive..." Felix drawled, appearing underwhelmed by Hook's threat. "But, you know as well as I do, _Captain_, you won't be for long," he nodded his head towards Ariel, "and neither will she."

Hook closed the space between them further. "Are you threatening her?" he growled.

Felix let out a derisive laugh. "Oh don't tell me you actually care about the dirty little fish. Moved on from the saviour already?" He could see that with each word he spoke he angered the pirate more and more. He leaned in for good measure and hushed his tone. "Once Pan's absorbed every single last bit of magic in Neverland, he will rip her to shreds and make you watch while he does it."

Hook let out a gutteral roar and pushed the boy back to a seating position before bringing down his hook, ready to shut him up for good. The hook was about an inch away from reaching its destination, when out of nowhere he felt an arm block his own, preventing him from tearing Felix's guts out.

"Hook!" Tinkerbell yelled to snap him out of his rage. "He's not worth it, let it go."

Felix paused to turn his attention to her, not in the least bit offended by being deemed unworthy. "Don't think he's forgotten about you, traitor."

Tinkerbell refused to let her unease show, so she covered it up with a vicious sneer. "Come on." she said to Hook, who yanked his arm out of her grasp. "Why did you stop me? He deserves to die."

"He can die another day, Hook. Right now we have more important things to consider."

"Such as what?" he challenged.

Tinkerbell said nothing, she merely turned around to look at Ariel then back at Hook, raising her eyebrows pointedly. Hook looked at Ariel. He almost killed someone in front of her. That was probably the last thing she needed to see. Besides, he didn't want to frighten her by showing this rather dark side of him. He'd done enough to scare her away already.

To Hook's surprise, but also relief, she looked more curious than frightened when he approached her. It was something at least. Her smile was still laced with insecurity, but she no longer seemed to fear him. When he came to a stop in front of her, she looked up at him expectantly.

A boyish smile crept up on Hook's face. He scratched the back of his head, feeling rather awkward and undetermined about where to go from here.

"How you holding up love?," he finally said as he placed himself on the tree stump right next to her.

"Oh, I'm alright," Ariel replied, looking down to the ground and giving the impression that everything most certainly was not alright. How could it be? After what she's had to endure.

A long silence fell between them. Neither knowing what to say or if to speak up at all. It was Hook who couldn't bear the silence any longer. When the silence between them became too much for him to handle, he simply blurted out exactly what he'd been wanting to say to her from the moment he found out she was here on the island.

"Ariel, I am so sorry."

The words came out in such a way that Ariel had to wonder if he was apologizing for himself or Felix. Or possibly all of it.

"Y.. you don't have to explain."

"But I do," Hook insisted. "My behaviour was... unforgivable."

As much as Ariel wished she could argue with that, she couldn't. But then why did she feel this overbearing need to put his mind and heart at ease? For a moment, she examined him, she looked deep into his eyes. There he was. The man she had saved. He was still in there whether he knew it or not.

Ariel moved her hand over to his hook, showing him she wasn't afraid and that she understood he hadn't meant to harm her.

"I forgive you," she uttered softly.

"You what? Why? You saved me and I rewarded you by trying to kill you." The disbelief at her kindness was clearly visible on his face.

"Because..." Yes... Why was she forgiving him so easily? Ariel wasn't entirely sure that even _she _understood it. She just knew that some matters were best left up to the heart instead of the mind. "Because I want to. Everyone deserves a second chance. Besides, I don't think you intended to cause me pain," a warm smile appeared on her beautiful features, "I never did."

Hook still sat there. Silent as ever. Attempting to make sense of her motivations. All this time he had been worried she wouldn't even hear him out. He stared into her eyes, looking for his answer. Her heart. _That _was his answer. It was pure despite everything's she's been through. She never let any of it taint her spirit or bring her down. Her heart stayed as pure as ever. Such amazing strength she must possess to remain as kind and forgiving as she was to him, after Pan had virtually crushed her mind, body and soul.

Instantly he felt a strong desire to kiss her, but he contained himself and simply sat with her a while longer. They had just gotten a bit closer, he did not wish to scare her off now by acting like... a pirate.

"You are a good man Killian," Ariel concluded.

And just like that, the tension was back. The comfort they had shared evaporated. Hook's lips formed a thin line and shadows seemed to dance around in his eyes. Each and every one of his past misdeeds came flooding back to him. If she only knew.

He looked down to his hook and her delicate fingers resting on top of it. She had no idea of the violence that hook had been a part of. No idea at all that his darkest days had been spent in service of the very monster who had had her tortured and was now manipulating an innocent boy into giving up his heart so that he could live. The memories made him feel sick.

He jerked his arm away from Ariel, a little more forcefully than he intended, and stood up.

"I'm not a good man, love," he replied with a dark expression on his face.

Ariel watched him go. She was confused, and somehow, slightly hurt that he had pushed her away. Again. Had she said something wrong? Why did he suddenly act so cold? But before she could gather the answer to either one of those questions, another person sat down next to her. It was Wendy Darling.

"Hi..." the small girl tentatively uttered.

"Oh hello," Ariel smiled kindly. She waited for Wendy to speak up again and reveal the reason why she had come over, but she only carried on staring at the ground. "That was a very brave thing you did."

Wendy's eyes darted towards the mermaid in surprise. A shy smile tugged at her lips "I don't feel very brave."

Ariel nodded her head gently. She could understand that. It was hard to feel brave when you've been terrorized by an individual such as Pan. She shuddered to think what it must have been like to endure it for years.

"To go against Pan's wishes..." Wendy sighed, leaving her sentence unfinished. "It's never a very good idea to come back to Neverland once you've found a way to escape it," she noted sadly. The wistfulness in her voice said more than words ever could. "I suppose more than a few of us have found that out the hard way."

Ariel noticed that Wendy's eyes had shifted to her legs. Her gift and curse at the same time. She let her hand glide over them softly. "It's the price," Ariel whispered. Wendy furrowed her eyebrows and was about to ask what she meant when, she explained.

"The pain is the price I have to pay. For wanting something more than I could have."

"No, it was Pan," Wendy immediately protested. She knew all about his manipulative ways. It broke her heart to see yet another person fall prey to his devious ways. "This is his doing."

"Then maybe I'm being punished for betraying friends. I'm bearing the consequences of my betrayal. If I hadn't told Pan about the box, things would have gone according to plan and everyone would be living happily ever after."

"And what about you? What would have become of you?" Wendy stressed. "You did not betray anyone, you did your best to help them, but Pan... sometimes, to survive, you have to do as he says. No one blames you Ariel."

The girl took hold of Ariel's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Two sets of tear filled eyes locked, sharing an expression of compassion.

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><p><strong>Additional AN: Yes, I have decided. I WILL keep Pan alive, mainly because it'd be a great challenge for me to write. A lot of things came forth from Pan's death and so lot of things are going to have to change when I keep him around. Now with that decision, comes a whole set of other decisions that need to be made, like do I redeem him or keep him evil and what about Zelena... I think I'm gonna have to do some brainstorming soon. ;)**

**PS. Because of school, updates will be slower, but I promise I won't abandon any of my stories. You guys have been amazingly supportive and I cannot tell you how much that means to me. **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey my darlings, not a lot of Hookriel in this one, sorry, but there's lots of Tinkerbell! I felt this story was a bit fairy-light, so when I started writing this chapter I wrote an entire (unplanned) exchange between her and Felix. There's also a tiny bit of Peter at the end for those who missed him in the previous chapter. ;)**

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><p>While Felix had long since averted his stare because he could no longer stomach the sight of the pirate and the mermaid, there was now a new set of eyes studying the pairing. Tinkerbell silently observed them from a safe distance. She never realised until now how much she had missed her friend. Seeing him now devoting his attention to Ariel slighted her in the oddest way. While she and Hook shared a past, they had never shared love, at least not the romantic kind, nor did either of them wish it so. Tinkerbell knew her jealousy had little to do with Hook but more so with the love part. As a fairy she never experienced it. The Blue fairy had always forbidden it. She was jealous that others could feel it so freely. And here were two people denying themselves this love. She could see it. Neither of them had admitted it to themselves yet, but it was there. That look he gave Ariel. She'd seen it before. It was the way he had looked at a drawing of Milah once. He had never looked at her that way though. No one had.<p>

"Pining again, Tink?" came the derisive drawl of Felix that brought the former fairy back in the here and now. She shot him a dirty look. She was _not _in the mood for this. "You do realise he doesn't want you. No one wants you Tink. Not even Pan wanted you."

The words felt like a knife slicing through her heart. How could he do that? How could he bring that up now? After all these years. Tinkerbell knew better than to engage in a conversation with Felix, but she couldn't help it. He was getting under her skin. A skill he learned from Peter.

"I don't know what you're talking about, _Felix_," she spat, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No?" he continued innocently. "Way back when, you had a thing for Peter. Don't you remember Tink?"

She sure did remember. When she first discovered this island, she developed a bit of a crush on Pan. Back then, he had welcomed her with open arms. They had shared many adventures. Life in Neverland was so carefree and no one told her what to do or which rules she had to live by. Pan had even let her come and go as she pleased. Then one day, she had taken longer to return from the Enchanted Forest than usual. When she finally found her way back to Peter and the lost boys, she was met with cold hostility. She had come back without her wings. Without her magic. This was the day she found out Pan only ever wanted her for her magic. Tinkerbell had meant absolutely nothing to him. He had told her exactly that when he banished her from his grounds. From then on she had retreated deep in the jungle and lived in the roughest parts of the island. She knew the lost boys almost never went there, which meant that she wouldn't have to face any of them again.

"And then when Pan disposed of you like the waste of space you are, you threw your pathetic self at our dear Captain. He sure took what he wanted from you didn't he?" The smirk on Felix's face grew wider and more vicious while Tinkerbell tried hard to control her emotions. She had just stopped Hook from killing the boy, she wouldn't stoop to that level. No matter what Felix would say. She slowly and calmly walked over to him and stood in front of him, but before she could say what was on her mind, he hissed at her.

"You'll never be woman enough for the pirate and you'll never be fairy enough for Pan."

Tinkerbell suddenly went very quiet. In one slow motion she straightened her back as tiny sparks appeared to emit from her eyes. She cocked her head sideways just a touch. Her hand itched to reach for the dagger she always kept in her boot and so that's what she did. The lost boy's eyes followed her every move and locked on the shiny metal of the blade. His grin disappeared, but he didn't show fear if he felt any.

Tinkerbell grabbed a handful of his already dishevelled hair. Almost casually did she pull his head back and place the blade against his neck. "I could slit your throat, right now. That would shut you up. But, you could also be quiet all on your own. Your choice."

Warm drops of blood trickled down the boy's neck. Felix had nothing more to say to her. She'd get what was coming to her in the end. And he'd be there, looking her in the eyes when Pan destroyed her.

Their entire exchange went by unnoticed, because when Tinkerbell let go of Felix with a jerk and turned around she saw Hook practically fleeing from Ariel's side. Tinkerbell frowned.

That stupid pirate. Could he do nothing right? He had a second chance at love here and he was just throwing it away like he didn't need it. Like it was nothing. An irrational anger washed over the fairy as she met him halfway in his path and stood herself in his way.

Before she said anything she placed her hands on her waist and gave him a stern look. Hook raised his eyebrows, completely in the dark about why the fairy was so upset with him.

"What just happened over there?" she came right to the point. "With you and Ariel," Tinkerbell added a little louder when she saw him drawing a blank. A look of recognition crossed his face, but instead of explaining he grinned mischievously at her.

"Jealous, lady Bell?" he stroked her cheek in a teasing manner. "You know no one can replace you love." Hook winked at her, trying to avoid a lecture from his tiny friend. Tinkerbell let out an indignant huff and slapped his hand away.

"Don't patronize me. That's not what I meant and you know it."

Hook sighed deeply. He didn't want to hear this.

"I see the way you look at her and I see the way she looks at you." Hook opened his mouth to protest but Tinkerbell wouldn't let him. "Don't be a fool Hook. Some of us don't even have a _first _shot at love let alone a second one."

"Don't tell me how to live my life _Tink_," Hook countered, his voice turning into something close to a growl. He placed his hook on her shoulder to move her and just as he went to pass her by, a surge of magic, like a gust of wind nearly knocked them both off their feet.

He did it. He got the heart. Felix grinned. He always knew Pan would succeed. The ambiance had turned grim and a sense of impending doom nestled inside the hearts of all of them.

"What was that?" Ariel inquired from across the clearing.

Tinkerbell whirled around still wearing an angry expression. "It's Pan... he's immortal now." The mermaid was taken aback by the degree of hatred in the fairy's eyes. Momentarily it felt as though those passionate feelings were directed at her, but soon enough Tink's features softened. Ariel didn't dwell on it for long since the very thought of Peter Pan being unstoppable made the hairs on her neck stand up. What if he came after her again?

"No. Not until he absorbs all of Neverland's magic. That'll take some time," Wendy interrupted.

"All the same lass, I don't think there's anything that will stop him now."

It had become very quiet in the camp. There really wasn't anything left to say. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Thoughts of dread, triumph, fear, anger, anticipation. Thoughts that they were abruptly pulled out of when the others started to come back. Snow and Charming were the first to arrive, soon after did Emma, Neal and Regina return and they had Henry with them. He looked to be in bad shape. Regina explained they had but an hour to save him before he'd be lost to them forever.

Felix beheld the desperation of the group with amusement. Silly little puppets. They didn't stand a chance against Pan. He resisted the urge to laugh in her face when the Queen grabbed a hold of him and made to rip his heart out. It wouldn't matter to him, he wouldn't say a word. Of course the beloved saviour stopped Regina and she started a ridiculously elaborate and horribly sentimental speech. He'd never fall for her lame promises, but he could see she was getting to some of the newer kids. They hadn't been with Pan long enough to have formed any type of loyalty. They still longed for their parents. Their home. Not Felix. _This _was his home and he'd be damned if he'd let them take that away from him. So when the saviour turned to him, he didn't even waste his energy scoffing at her. Did she really believe he would tell her anything if she only asked him nicely? The look on her face when he shut her down a final time was priceless. Unfortunately Felix's victory lasted just a second or two, because one of the lost boys spoke up and try as he might he could not prevent them from divulging Pan's whereabouts.

Stupid children. They had no idea. No idea what they were going back to if these adults succeeded. Neverland was safe. It was their own. They were free here. Look at them now, already bound. Think of the restrictions that would tie them down out there.

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><p>Pan landed gracefully beside Neverland's oldest tree. The very tree he had abandoned his son by. It seemed like such a lifetime ago. Not even that. It seemed... like a life lived by someone else. Someone he once knew vaguely. The thinking tree that fed on regrets. The first few days after the shadow took Rumpelstiltskin away, he spent an awful lot of time here. Gradually his regrets had faded and one day disappeared completely. He wasn't entirely sure how that had happened but he knew the tree had something to do with it. Apparently the longer you stay here the more the tree absorbs your regrets, or so Peter had figured. Whether that was really the way it worked or not, mattered little to him. He had felt cleansed. Free from his burdens. His guilt. Useless emotions like love and remorse had been eliminated.<p>

Youth was important. Power was important. And now he had it. In spades. He could feel himself gaining every ounce of magic left in Neverland. Soon there'd be none left for the island. It would all belong to him. And then, then he'd show them all exactly what he thought adults were good for. Speaking of, there they were now.

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><p><strong>Additional AN: Next chapter, more Hook and Ariel interactions, I promise. Thank you to my lovely reviewers for your continuing support! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: So, a Guest reviewer made an excellent point about Eric (thank you for leaving a comment btw). Well I can tell you that while Ariel may have forgotten about him for a bit, I certainly haven't. I have plans to deal with Eric, in fact I'm laying the groundwork for that as we speak. ****Perhaps I should also mention that the story will change drastically around the time that Pan (and Rumple) are supposed to die.**

**PS. 30 Followers you guys! Thank you, you are all amazing. :D **

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><p>Ariel looked around. Everyone was busy gathering things, untying lost boys, getting ready to hike all the way back to Hook's ship. With a hand on her coat she bit her lip. Was she expected to follow them? On foot? Ariel couldn't bear the thought of having to make that journey. She didn't dare assume that Hook would carry her all the way there, just because he had done so before. In fact when Charming yelled for everyone to head out she fully expected to be left behind. What she did not expect was to be offered a hand.<p>

"Come on love," he said not unkindly, but still wearing that dark expression of his.

Stubbornness took hold of her and she turned her head away, sticking her nose up in the air. "I'm fine thank you."

Seeing right through her bravado, he called her bluff, "Well then let's get a move on." He waited for her to stand up, which was mean of course since they both knew it would cause her a great deal of pain, but at the same time he was quite curious to see how strong willed this little mermaid really was. With her lips tightly pressed together and her eyes narrowed she hoisted herself up, supressing a pained cry. She even tried to take a step, but with only one made, she stopped.

"See, I can do fine on my own."

Hook almost chuckled. Oh she wanted to play it like that did she?

"Indeed, love. Seeing as you're doing so _fine _without my help, I suppose I could have my coat back now too."

Ariel's head snapped in his direction and her eyes widened in horror. Was he serious? But as soon as she caught sight of his smug smile she knew he wasn't. He was teasing her.

"Not on your life, pirate," she smacked his arm, almost losing her balance.

He caught her, grasping her shoulder firmly. "Aye, that I am... a pirate," he said seductively invading her space, "And pirates, _take _what they want, did you know..."

Ariel could do nothing but stare deeply into his eyes. Mesmerized. Heart beating miles a minute and rendered absolutely speechless.

"Lost your voice, love?" he teased her even more. She opened her mouth to retort, but nothing came to mind, so instead she pushed him a step back and said, "Are you gonna help me or not?"

Of course he would help her, but before he did, he took his sweet time looking her up and down which made her cheeks flush. Hook had never seen anything so charming. He'd been worried his pirate persona would put her off but he should've known better. She was a mermaid, she'd probably encountered more pirates than he himself had. Not only that, but Hook had a feeling she wasn't nearly as innocent as she looked.

"You two ready or not? Everyone's already ahead," Tinkerbell huffed in an impatient tone, giving them both a look that neither were very sure of how to interpret. Ariel swung her arm around his neck and Hook lifted her up with ease. When he did, he noticed Ariel's eyes were cast down. She looked sad all of a sudden.

"What's the matter, love? I was only teasing you."

"It's not that...it's just..." she smiled a small smile, not looking too sure of how to say whatever it was she was going to say.

"Tinkerbell... she doesn't like me very much, I think."

Hook raised an eyebrow. Tink? This was about Tink? Had he missed something? As far as he knew, Tink was only annoyingly trying to get him to open up to Ariel. Why would she do that if she didn't like her?

"What makes you say that?" he therefor inquired curiously.

He could see she was hesitating to tell him.

"I don't know. She's just been very cold towards me. I think she thinks I'm a burden or something, which I can understand with the whole 'legs, no legs' thing and me betraying you all to Pan and I know she's your friend but..."

"Tink's not very friendly to a lot of people, that's just how she is," Hook cut short her ramblings. "And I wouldn't call, enduring hours of torture, betraying us to Pan. Not many would've held out as long as you did, believe me."

Ariel contemplated these words. Maybe she was being too hard on herself and maybe she was reading too much into Tinkerbell's attitude. All the same, there was a burning question she had and she bit her bottom lip to keep it from slipping out. It was quite a personal thing to ask. She glanced ahead to the fairy. And without realising it she blurted it out.

"Were you and her... you and Tinkerbell.. were you two..."

Hook looked at her uncomfortably. He couldn't lie to her and even if he could he wouldn't. So he tried to answer with as much delicacy as he could. "We, once found comfort in each other here in Neverland, but that was about as far as it went."

"Oh." Right, comfort. "Did you love her?" Ariel pressed on.

"I.. _care, _for her. As a friend."

"And does she for you?"

"I think so. I'm uncertain if she ever felt... anything _more _than that," he answered truthfully. He had never known exactly what Tink's feelings for him were. He knew of her crush on Pan, but if she had also had similar feelings for him he couldn't say.

He stole a quick glance at Ariel before returning his eyes to the road in front of them. Why was she suddenly so curious about his past with Tink? Surely that wouldn't matter to her either way. Or would it? Was it the wrong female he thought jealous? And if it was, did that mean the little mermaid... could have feelings for him? The very thought caused the corners of his mouth to curl up ever so slightly and while Hook himself may not have noticed it, Ariel could feel his hold on her strengthen.

The mermaid blushed once more, feeling she might have overstepped her bounds with her inquisitive nature. She let her eyes wander in the same direction as Hook's.

Just beyond Tinkerbell was another girl with blond hair. Curls moving with every step she took. Steps that were made with bare feet just like hers. Ariel's eyes widened when she saw more blond hair. Felix. He was walking right beside Wendy. Granted his hands were still tied behind his back, unlike many of the other lost boys, but all the same she couldn't get rid of the heavy feeling in her stomach as she witnessed the two of them side by side.

"Pan will kill you all, you know," he whispered to the young girl next to him. "First he'll make you watch while he slaughters your brothers and then it'll be your turn to die." Felix smiled happily at his own words. Happiness was an odd look for him. Wendy enlarged the gap between them, clearly affected by his words.

It wasn't too long before Neal showed up, putting a protective arm around her.

"You bothering my little sister?" Neal said with a twinkle in his eye, as he gently nudged Wendy. She looked up at him and smiled. Finally she had her big brother back. Now it wouldn't be long before she was reunited with John and Michael too and then she could start putting this whole nightmare behind her. Hopefully.

Ariel's heart settled at the sight of Neal leading Wendy to the front of the group. She was a special girl and she deserved a family to look out for her.

The journey to the Jolly Roger went by without a hitch. Meaning, no sign of Pan and no resistance from any of the lost boys, not even Felix. Few words were exchanged between any members of the group.

After a little while Ariel could feel the arms around her loosen a little bit.

"Are you okay? I'm not too heavy am I?" she asked, half joking, half worrying that she might be.

"Light as a feather, love."

Ariel knew he was lying through his teeth, but she loved him for it anyway. Well... liked. She appreciated his charm and tact. No doubt his arms would get tired after such a long trip no matter what the weight he might be carrying, but apparently he would just grin and bear it for her.

Finally they made it to the ship. The sight of the ocean elicited a sigh of relief from both Ariel and Hook. They smiled at one another. Each knowing exactly how the other was feeling. At home. The smell of the salt, the sound of the waves. There was simply nothing like it.

The boys boarded the ship while Charming and Neal went straight to work. The deck was buzzing with activity from all sides. The last ones to step aboard were Ariel and Hook.

"May I?" he gestured towards the ground, asking for her permission to set her down before he did so. Ariel nodded, but still hissed as soon as her feet touched the wooden boards. She grasped the reiling for support. Hook cringed a little, as though he could feel her pain.

"I have to prepare the ship for voyage. Will you be alright for a while?" he inquired.

"Yes." She nodded her head to emphasize her response, giving him a small smile.

Hook walked off to help Charming with the sails and as he did so, stepped out of one of the lost boys' view. Ariel turned her head and let out a gasp when she spotted him. Felix. He was sitting but a few feet away from her. Hands unbound. At the sight of her, he grinned a wicked grin and stood up.

"Well, if it isn't the captain's little princess," Felix drawled slowly. Instinctively Ariel took a step back, forgetting that in doing so she'd bring about a pain equivalent to walking on glass shards.

"Don't be scared fish, I won't hurt you," he mocked her.

Ariel scoffed at this, her heart was pounding in her chest, but this was her moment. Her moment to take back her life. She would no longer let him control her feelings. If Wendy could conquer her fears of Pan, surely Ariel could conquer hers of Felix.

"If you're not careful, you'll be the one that gets hurt," she burst out at him with eyes as cold as ice.

"Are you threatening me?" He moved closer to her, knowing she wouldn't be able to walk away from him with ease. Ariel wrapped the coat Hook had given her, a little tighter around herself as if it would protect her from the boy in front of her. Felix noticed this of course.

"Heh, that's cute. Won't keep you safe from me though."

A tiny glimmer on Ariel's wrist caught his eye. Felix knew Pan, better than anyone else. He wouldn't have let that magical bracelet end up back in the mermaid's possession if he hadn't wished it so. He also knew he must have enchanted it. What kind of enchantment he didn't know, but it would surely not benefit the mermaid in any way.

"Let's see how well you can swim with legs."

Without any further delay he grabbed a hold of her and flung her over the side of the ship.

"Ariel!" Wendy yelled out while she rushed over to Felix to give him a good shove of his very own. He was quick though. He grabbed her by the wrist and pried her off of him, laughing at her attempts to claw at him.

Hook, at the other end of the ship, noticed it too late. Before he could so much as yell out her name, she was overboard. Wendy beat him to Felix, nevertheless he sprinted across the deck and not a second did he hesitate. He jumped in after her.

Ariel kicked her legs frantically. Her hand grabbed the bracelet and tried to slip it off. At least as a mermaid she could survive in the water. But she couldn't. What ever she tried, the bracelet wouldn't budge. It was clamped around her wrist as if it was glued to her skin. The heavy leather coat that had previously felt so comforting, now mecilessly dragged her down to the bottom of the sea. Running out of air, flashes of Felix and his rope swam around in her mind. This caused her to panic even more and just as she was about to pass out, she felt strong arms wrap themselves around her waist and pull her upwards. Back towards the surface where there was oxygen.

When she felt a cold breeze on her skin, she gulped in big chunks of air and held on tight to the man who saved her. She looked at him through the drops of water weighing heavily on her eyelashes.

It was Hook.

For the briefest of moments she was right back at that beach. The one where they first met. Where she saved him. Was this how he had felt? This intense frenzy of not being able to breathe? Extreme fear of meeting your end and utter relief when delivered from such a terrible fate?

"The bracelet..." she breathed heavily.

"What?" Hook responded, only half listening while wrapping around her the towel Neal had handed to him.

"What about the bracelet?"

"I...I can't take it... off"

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><p><strong>Additional AN: Hope you enjoyed Hook and Ariel's moment, more of those are to come. Sorry about the delay btw. Aside from having all of 2 seconds a day all to myself and thus writing, I've been coping with a heavy case of writer's block on all my stories. :(**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Oh the Hookriel potential of this show is killing me! Thank heavens for fanfiction. And thank you Guest reviewer for leaving a comment. Your wish is my command. Check out this new chapter. Must warn you, there's some violence in it. I decided I needed to create a turning point for Hook (and for Ariel too actually). Something drastic. So read on and don't forget to let me know what you liked or hated.**

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><p>Hook took Ariel's arm and tenaciously tried to get the bracelet to come off in spite of what she just said. When indeed he himself had confirmed the bracelet was cursed, he clenched his fist. Ariel was still shaking beside him. Hook whirled around to look for the second best person to take his anger out on. Felix. He was bound again, held securely in place by Charming.<p>

"You son of a bitch!"

He swung his fist directly at the boy's jaw and quickly after, he raised his left arm.

Charming stepped in front of Felix and held his hand up. If it wasn't for Hook's incredible reflexes the prince would've been skewered.

"Hook!"

"Step away mate, this doesn't concern you."

"Hook, he isn't worth it."

That was the second time someone had told him Felix wasn't worth cutting up, but he had yet to agree with this point of view.

"Killian..."

Felix would never know that that one word saved his life, because Hook had no intentions of letting the prince get in his way. But that tiny voice, calling out to him, that's what stopped him. He rushed back over to Ariel. She lifted her arms up to express her need for help.

Apparently Felix wasn't the sort of boy who knew when to quit while ahead, because when he saw the mermaid cling to the pirate he couldn't resist one last taunt.

"Enjoy your catch of the day while you can, Captain. Pan will have her on his dinner plate in no time, once he finds you."

A surge of outrage coursed through Ariel's body. In a fraction of a second she was at the boy's throat.

As much as he enjoyed seeing the feisty little mermaid claw Felix's eyes out, Hook felt it best to put a stop to it. He didn't want Felix to turn on her again so he pulled her back towards him, embracing her tightly.

"You should keep your fish on a leash Hook..." Felix surveyed Ariel's form, halting at her wrist. "Then again, Pan already took care of that."

Ariel grabbed Hook's drenched shirt so fiercely in her fists that her knuckles turned white. Diminishing her to nothing more than a thing, a possesion, made her blood boil. And reminding her of the control Pan continued to have over her was just too cruel.

She pulled at the bracelet, not expecting, but hoping, wishing, praying it would magically give under her touch. It didn't. A lump formed in her throat and she bit her lip trying to keep herself from bursting out into tears in front of Felix. When she felt she could not longer hold it in, she turned around and ran away, stumbling a few times on her way below deck.

Hook was torn between going after her or making Felix pay for upsetting her. What was it about her that made him feel so protective? He didn't dwell on it for long, because as soon as she was out of sight he shoved Charming out of the way to propel the boy by his cloak onto the wooden boards of the ship. He landed with a thud and Hook sincerely hoped he had broken at least a few bones.

This was for insulting Ariel. He slashed with his hook and caught the boy in the ribs. Sounds of tearing fabric filled his ears and as Felix let out a gutteral scream, every single head turned its way towards the two. This was for throwing her overboard, another slash across his chest. Blood stained the already unclean cloak. And that was for torturing her within in an inch of her life. The last strike made a gash on Felix's right cheek. Hook stood over him breathing heavily.

He had wanted to do this since camp when Tink had stopped him. No one was stopping him this time though. He vaguely heard a female voice yell out his name, but in that moment nothing registered. He felt hands pull him away and he snapped himself out of his murderous daze. He looked at the person dragging him along. It was Emma. She made it back with her son.

His heart skipped a beat. The horror reflecting in her eyes brought him straight back down to earth. It was as though he was looking at himself through a mirror. What he saw there was not a hero. He was looking at a monster. Barely any better than Pan. Hook hadn't lost his temper like this in years. In fact he had prided himself in gaining control over his anger.

Hook realised that, had Ariel seen him do that, she probably would never want anything to do with him ever again. If he'd still have been on the path of pursuing Emma, he was certain she'd be done with him then and there. But he wasn't in it for Emma anymore, maybe he never was. Maybe all the flirting was just a part of his old habits. He had felt something when they'd shared a kiss, but it was only that feeling that he could be open to love again. More so, he realised he had closed the chapter on Milah. He had loved and lost, and now it was time to move on. That's what he'd felt.

If not for that kiss, he might not have dared to let himself be open to... to care for the mermaid. Ariel. How he could be so captivated by her was beyond him. That's how he knew it was love. Love could not be explained. And his ever growing feelings for her were anything but rational.

He staggered away from Emma. He needed to be alone. All those eyes on him. He wanted privacy. When he arrived in his quarters, he found Ariel sitting there with her arms wrapped around her legs. Crying softy.

Hook let out a sigh, her presence was the only one he could tolerate at this point. Question was, did she feel the same? Or was he about the last person she wanted to see right now?

"Ariel..."

She looked up with her red eyes which widened at the sight of the blood dripping from his hook. Hook's face fell. She was scared again. Of him. Of how dangerous he was. He cautiously treated in her direction, but she cowered away. Subtle though it was, Hook noticed and shifted back again uncomfortably.

Ariel realised what she'd unintentionally done and offered him an apologetic look. She extended her hand towards him. It took him a while to move, but eventually he made his way over to her. Step by step, measuring her reaction. When he was in her reach she grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him next to her. She threw her arms around him and he layed his hand to rest on the small of her back, keeping the hook a fair bit out of reach.

In this moment, they weren't a pirate and a mermaid. They were two people in need of companionship. Someone to comfort them. Someone to soothe them. For different reasons, sure, but there was a silent understanding between them. When they broke apart their eyes met. Ariel gave him the tiniest of smiles. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the glimmer of metal. She stared at the bloodied hook. Hook had never felt more ashamed. He didn't want to be like this. He didn't want to be this person. Not anymore. It disgusted him.

"Ariel, I..."

She looked back him. A sad look on her face. She felt so conflicted. Never had she wanted to hurt someone. But Felix. With him it was different. She had wished him harm. And for that she felt ashamed. Seeing the boy's blood all over that hook. It made her feel... unwell.

"Did you..."

"Kill him?" Hook finished for her.

Ariel cast her eyes to her hands in her lap, fearing the answer.

"No.. love. I didn't. Wanted to, but.. I didn't."

Relief washed over the little mermaid. She didn't want anyone killed for her. Not even someone like Felix apparently. More than that, she didn't want Hook to kill. Not for her, not for anyone. He was a good man, but not if he let the darkness in his heart overtake him.

Hook had no more words. He felt as though he no longer had a voice. The silence in the room was deafening. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ariel shiver. His coat hung around her heavily, soaked with water. Drops of it trailed down her pale skin. Skin that was completely bare, underneath the leather garment. Another shiver. Hook cleared his throat abruptly and rose to his feet.

"Let's get you some dry garments eh."

He retrieved one of his own shirts from a cupboard, holding it out in front of him.

"It's... all I have. Apologies."

"That's okay. Thank you."

She went to stand up and accidentally let go of the coat causing it to fall open momentarily. Even if Hook had wanted to look away he truly couldn't. The tiny gasp that she produced made him grin, despite his efforts to hide it. Ariel allowed herself a glare before retreating deeper into the cabin, searching for a spot to change, away from prying pirates eyes.

"Could you please, uhm, turn around?"

With a graceful nod of the head, he fulfilled her request.

The shirt was quite big for her, it reached just beyond her thighs. Ariel didn't mind, it would make for decent sleeping attire. As bittersweet as it was, she still admired her legs. As did the captain or so it seemed, because when he faced her again he was positively hypnotized by them.

Ariel took a moment to observe him. She'd been stared at by many men before. Mostly sailors who couldn't believe their luck at finding such a deep-sea treasure. Sometimes pirates. They had always given her lascivious looks. Not this pirate though. Oh there was lust in his eyes, but also admiration and affection.

Affection...

"For some reason I can't seem to keep myself out of your clothes," Ariel shrugged with a small laugh while looking down at herself.

Instantly Hook's mind fogged up with all sorts of sinful thoughts. "I'd be more than happy to assist you with that," he smirked, raising his eyebrow flirtatiously.

Thankfully, she didn't seem to take offence. She merely gave him a mock reproachful stare and answered, "Well, I would twirl around and ask you how I look, but..." she bit her lip, glancing briefly at her feet which were still hurting. Funny, when she had been wrapped up in her thoughts about him, she had hardly felt the pain at all.

"You look stunning lass, both with and without clothes I imagine," he winked at her. "Please, sit down."

Hook walked over to her intending to carry her to a big comfy chair in the corner, but Ariel held her hand up and shook her head softly.

"It's okay," she extended her hand towards him. "For support?" she clarified with slight hesitation in her voice.

"Are you certain?"

Ariel nodded. So he offered his hand and walked her over to the chair, all the while never taking his eyes off her. He could see she was trying to be brave. She was trying to ignore the pain, but in her movements it was apparent just how much she could not. He resisted the urge to pick her up anyway, he did not want to make her feel like a helpless damsel. That is something he knew women did not appreciate. And Ariel was definitely one of those women.

"I did it."

The tears that she had held back were still visible and threatening to spill.

"Aye, you did." Hook smiled at her. He didn't know what posessed him, but he felt his hand move up and caress her face. He simply wanted to let her know that all would be alright.

Ariel's heart sped up at the touch and she moved her head sideways slightly. Her hand covered his and they simply stood like that for one blissfully eternal moment. When suddenly Regina entered with Henry, they broke away from each other. Ariel sat herself down and Hook placed a blanket over her.

"Get some rest now, love."

She curled herself up and looked over to Henry and the queen. The way she was with the boy amazed her. There was not a trace of the cruel woman she had met all those years ago.

Maybe people changed after all, Ariel thought to herself. She smiled at how she tucked him in. That was one lucky boy. He had so many that cared for him. She then turned her head towards Hook who was now at the bottom of the stairs, perhaps she had someone who cared for her too. With one last look he disappeared from sight and was soon followed by Regina.

Henry lay fast asleep immediately. Poor kid. He'd been through so much. Peter Pan had surely seen to that. She shook her head to clear it from all thoughts related to Pan and closed her eyes, gently laying her head down.

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><p><strong>Additional AN: I'll give you 3 guesses on who will show up to disturb Henry and Ariel's peaceful slumber. Or maybe you'll only need one. ;)**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Not a lot to say about this chapter for a change. Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks to those who reviewed. :) Enjoy!**

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><p>She looked so peaceful in her sleep. Henry seemed a little more restless, bad dreams no doubt. Nightmares. Nightmares that involved <em>him<em>. He smirked at the thought. Appearing in children's dreams used to be his way to lure them to Neverland. It took a lot of magic to do it. That was one of the reasons he had resorted to the flute instead. A lot less arduous.

Pan stood observing both sleepers from the shadows. That poisonous witch had robbed him of Henry's heart. After everything he had done to obtain it. Oh no, he wouldn't just let them all sail away to live happily ever after, while he reverted back to his grown up self. That heart was his and there was nothing anybody could do to stop him from taking it.

Quietly he moved around the room, listening closely for any noises from above. He came to a halt right next to Ariel. He took a moment to take in her appearance. In her cleaned up state she still looked absolutely radient, despite her exhausted demeanor. Her red locks were cascaded down one shoulder, which was bared by an oversized black shirt that clearly belonged to the pirate. The blanket she had herself covered with had dropped to the floor, exposing the smooth skin of her cursed legs. She was altogether a pretty picture. No wonder Hook had fallen for this one.

When Pan took a step in Henry's direction, an unimaginably loud creak reverberated off the cabin walls. He froze. Had either of them heard it? Henry appeared undisturbed. Pan turned around at the slowest possible pace and found himself staring straight into a pair of green eyes. From that moment everything seemed to happen in a flash.

Ariel shrunk back into her chair, attempting to disappear from sight, but Pan took her by the arms and forced her to stand up. Her knees buckled underneath her. He held her up and ruthlessly pushed her back against the wall. "How does that feel, mermaid?" The tears in her eyes answered for her. She opened her mouth to scream for help, but before she could utter a single sound, Pan waved his hand across her lips and gone was her voice. Again. Anger flashed in the redhead's eyes.

"Oh you don't like that huh? Well, we wouldn't want you to call for your friends now would we? Not before I get what I deserve." He spoke in a hushed tone so as to not wake up Henry.

"Or, before _you_, get what _you _deserve..."

Ariel's heart skipped a beat. She started struggling, only succeeding in bruising her own skin under his touch. As fun as it was, watching her try to escape, he didn't have an abundance of time, so he slammed her body hard into the wooden boards behind her, temporarily stunning her.

Then he spotted the bracelet. A devious grin formed on his lips. He seized Ariel's wrist, holding it up for her to look at. "Do you like my gift to you?" Since she really couldn't answer him if she had wanted to, she settled for giving him a dirty look while jerking her arm out of his grasp. "Not pleased? But I gave you back your legs. A bit ungrateful aren't we?"

Pan inched closer, caressing her thigh with his finger. "They really do suit you." A shiver ran up her spine and she felt her stomach twist. Rudely she slapped his hand away from her. To which he only responded with more violence. He let go of her arms and wrapped a hand around her throat instead. Fingers digging hard into her neck.

"I'm _sure _that your _prince _would thank me, when you finally spread them for him. Or... was it the pirate? I forget which."

Her eyes widened. Eric. She hadn't given him a single thought since Pan captured her. She'd been so preoccupied with...

"Captain Hook..." he went on relentlessly, "too bad the man's got eyes for one lady only. The fair haired saviour. He told me all about their first kiss and how much it meant to him. They are very much in love."

In her eyes he saw a hint of jealousy and if he looked close enough, the threat of tears. Pan quirked an eyebrow and grinned like the cheshire cat that he was. Yes, hurt. Be in pain little mermaid. He could practically see her heart breaking right in front of him.

The longer he stared at her, the more aggitated he became. He was here for Henry. Henry's heart to be more specific. With a violent shove, he threw Ariel against the wall. Her back collided heavily with it. When she saw that he was making his way towards the sleeping boy, she made a split second decision and clawed at his sleeve, trying to pull him back. It mattered very little, because in return, he yanked her nearer to him by the front of her borrowed shirt.

"You will _not _stand in my way, do you understand?"

Pan raised his hand and struck her hard. As her head spun to the side, he grabbed a handful of her hair and smashed her head into one of the low hanging beams. She lost consciousness and slumped to the floor.

He looked her motionless form up and down feeling nothing but contempt, knowing he'd feel something entirely different had he a pirate's eyes. The thought created a grin, so sinister, you would faint to look at it. He'd finish her off later. When the good captain would be there to witness it.

All the commotion seemed to have woken up dear Henry. Time to take what was his all along.

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><p>Hook stood at the helm, far away from everyone. He may have been used to a bustling crowd of people aboard his ship, but none of those people ever cared much about a little violence, a little blood. It fazed them not, in fact they cheered for it. Maybe even respected it. Not these people. The group he was sailing with on this night, were the farthest thing from murdering, morally challenged misfits. These were the good guys, the heroes. And heroes frowned upon behaviour such as he had displayed but mere moments ago. He stood in the wind, listening to the waves crash against the ship, trying to convince himself he didn't care what others thought of him. He almost succeeded had it not been for a certain redhead drifting her way inside his mind.<p>

He cared what _she _thought of him. More importantly, she made him care what he thought of himself. Back in his quarters, he'd realised he has lived this life for too long. He had grown so tired of the anger, the hatred, the violence. His path of revenge had led him nowhere. He'd killed the Dark One and nothing had changed. Granted the crocodile had survived, but in the brief time he had believed him to be gone, he hadn't felt any different. The emptiness was not filled.

Until now. His blackened heart had started to feel brighter somehow. Ironic. How, of all the realms, it was Neverland in which he had finally found a little bit of light. If only he hadn't pushed her away that first time. If only he had let her in sooner. He had wasted all this precious time. Time he could've spent with her instead. Being happy.

Hook let out a deep sigh. He knew that wishing to change the past wouldn't make it so. You can only work to make the future better. As soon as they'd be back in Storybrooke, he would tell her. He would tell her that she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. And that...

Up ahead a cloud of red smoke caught Hook's attention.

And that, he would give up his revenge against the Dark One.

He watched Bealfire embrace his father. That boy, he had wronged him so deeply in the past. But the boy was a boy no longer. He was a man and he had people who loved him. Something Hook has been without for too many years to count. His resolve strengthened. He would not let happiness slip through his fingers again.

From afar Hook noticed a change in Rumpelstiltskin's demeanor. He'd sensed something aboard his ship.

Pan.

Before Hook had even the chance to form a thought, Rumpelstiltskin was gone. Henry was in danger. However, rushing closely behind Regina, the only person on _his _mind was Ariel.

Scanning the room he couldn't find her anywhere. Henry was safe and sound in his bed, Regina by his side. Rumpelstiltskin stood by the stairs, he had the box, but where was _she_?

There. A figure at the far end of the cabin on the ground.

"Ariel!"

Hook hurried over to her seemingly lifeless form.

"Ariel, darling, wake up. Wake up."

There were bruises on her neck and the side of her face. He cradled her head into his lap. Her hair was a tangled mess. Blood from a a nasty looking gash on her forehead caused a few strands of it to stick together. After a few seconds that seemed like hours, her eyes fluttered open.

Her lips uttered his name, but no sound came out. Hook, realising instantly what had happened, called Regina over, who reluctantly tore herself away from her son to restore the mermaid's voice once more.

"Killian?"

"I'm here, love," he breathed desperately.

"Pan... he's-"

"He's gone now. Gold took care of him."

Hook noticed she wasn't looking at him at all. He wondered if she'd heard anything of what he had said. Ariel's eyes frantically searched every inch of the area. Fully expecting to see the boy appear out of nowhere. Her gaze finally rested on Henry, who was staring right back at her with a peculiar look in his eye. A more worried and frightened look crossed his young face the moment he became aware she was observing him.

"Ariel... love."

Hook pulled her out of her daze and into an embrace, placing his hand gently on the back of her head. She clung to him, reveled in the safety of his arms, before abruptly tearing herself away from him.

A sad smile on her pink lips. Something inexplicable came over Hook. He desired to alleviate her pain, to make her sadness disappear, to kiss those beautiful lips. He leaned in to act on his impulse, but she shifted away subtly.

This very small yet abundantly clear motion did not only pique Hook's interest, but also Pan's.

From inside Henry's body, he watched the two lovebirds, so desperate to be with each other and at the same time so scared to go there. It was pathetic. Though his work on the mermaid had paid off. The cracks were formed. The seeds of doubt had been planted. Now all he had to do was keep watering them.

The pirate stupidly mumbled an apology of sorts before retreating up the stairs after Rumpelstiltskin and the queen. Now he was alone with her. She was still lying exactly where he, and now Hook, had left her.

"Always the gentleman," Pan couldn't resist whispering to himself with an eyeroll to boot.

"I'm sorry?" Ariel inquired, being under the impression he'd been talking to her.

"Oh nothing. Are you okay? You look like you're in need of some help."

Pan tried out his best boyish smile. It was quite hard not to make it sinister, but he relied on Henry's innocent appearance to back up his act.

"Yeah. Please."

Pan knelt down to her level, wrapping his hands around her arms to support her. Purposefully pressing down on her bruised skin, he gauged her reaction. A slight hiss was all she let on. He escorted her over to the bed and sat down next to her.

"Thank you," she smiled brightly. Brighter than Pan felt she should in her current situation.

"You're welcome," he replied stoically.

Ariel was fidgeting with the hem of her makeshift nightgown. Evidently troubled by something. She never got the chance to open up about it though, because Pan had already moved on to a more amusing topic.

"So... you and Hook huh?"

Ariel gave him a startled look. "Oh..uh no, no. It's not like that. I mean I do like him... I guess, but he's... and I have..."

"Really? Cause it looked like you were very interested in him earlier even though he's into my mom."

An almost accusing expression darkened Henry's normally radiant eyes.

"Henry... I don't-"

"Look, he and my mom belong together okay, so just back off."

And with that Pan stormed out of the cabin, leaving behind a very confused and hurt Ariel. The redhead sat there for a moment, in a bit of a stupor. She hadn't even gotten the chance to ask him about his father. She didn't understand it at all. Did Henry not wish for his parents to get back together? Perhaps he was only lashing out. After all, he had been through a lot of misery in a very short period of time. Still, maybe it was best if she stayed out of the way for a while. The last thing she wanted was to meddle in this boy's life by stepping in where she didn't belong.

Up on deck, Pan peered out over the horizon. A complacent grin plastered on Henry's face. Poor little mermaid, can't be with her pirate. Such a shame. They were just the start. The tip of the iceberg. He had already formed a new plan.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Alright well, getting closer to Storybrooke with each chapter. Got some good stuff in store once they get there. But the journey is as important as the destination, so read on and enjoy. ;)**

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><p>She had pushed him away. She had had some time to think on it and she'd come to the conclusion she wanted nothing to do with a man such as him. Could he blame her? Maybe, maybe not. This was who he was though. An impulsive and at times violent man. He had a temper and was not always in control of it.<p>

If she couldn't handle that, then she wasn't the woman for him... But he wanted her so much. He wanted her to be the woman for him. Back in the day, he would've simply taken what he wanted and he wanted to take _her_. But he would waste his time with females who didn't really want him no longer. She wanted a prince not a pirate.

In the distance he noticed Snow White standing over Felix, changing his bandages. He looked repulsed. She looked annoyed. The heavy sigh Hook let out, matched his heavy heart.

Ariel had called him a good man. He'd gotten so angry over that. Stupid girl had no idea how bad he really was. He could never change, what did people expect? He didn't belong among the heroes, the marks on Felix proved just that.

Heroes had rules to play by. Codes to consider. Sure he'd lived by some codes of his own, but ones that suited _him_. Not the general cause. This wasn't news to him, but apparently it was to the group of people he was currently travelling with.

Hook ran his hand over his eyes, he felt so tired. An image of Ariel appeared in his troubled mind. He'd left her there on the floor. Bleeding. He hadn't even helped her get up. He just left. Like some jerk who cared less about the welfare of a woman who needed him. But did she? Need him? Perhaps she didn't. Perhaps none of their moments were real. Perhaps she was only being kind. The way that she was.

Well, he didn't need any kindness. Not from anyone. Blasted mermaid. Look at him. All in a fuss over a dame. This wasn't him. A lost little puppy dog who chased after a woman and her affections. Ariel was't even a woman at all.

The vicious thought made his heart ache. Finally Hook had had enough of that and went in search of a bottle of rum. He would cast her out of his heart with hard liquor. That'd do the trick.

Then he caught sight of a certain blonde.

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><p>Try as she might, Ariel could not go back to sleep. Too many thoughts tangled themselves all in a knot inside her head. Mostly about Pan, but every now and then her mind drifted back to Hook. Abruptly she stood up. This wasn't helping. She needed to get over it. There was nothing there between them anyway. It was Eric she loved and Hook loved... not her.<p>

Ariel peered through the stairway opening. She could make out a few figures. Snow and Felix, Wendy and Henry at the far end and, Hook and... Emma.

Her face fell. She knew it. He wanted the saviour, not her. This ought to have been good news, since she wanted her prince and had no desire for other men in her life, but then why, upon seeing Hook caress the side of Emma's cheek, did she feel so angry?

What is it with pirates and females. Or, what was it with _Hook _and females? Maybe this was all just a game to him. Emma, Tinkerbell, her. Maybe he was just being his flirtatious self. Not looking for anything beyond that. But.. he had saved her. Twice. Though, wouldn't he have done that had it been Emma or Tink? Probably. It didn't mean she was anything special to him. Apparently.

Ariel closed her eyes. She focused her senses on the sound of the waves, the smell of the ocean, the feel of the wind through her hair. She needed to forget about Hook. She was on her way to be reunited with the person she truly loved. Eric.

She retreated into the captain's quarters and looked around the room. She didn't want to be here anymore, so she wound her way through a bunch of corridors, hoping no one would come down for a while and find her missing. She arrived in a room she could only assume once belonged to Hook's crew. It was spacious and most of all, empty. Just how she liked it. Some time alone is what Ariel really craved.

The amount of time she had spent down there she couldn't say. She had drifted in and out of sleep every so often, but never enough to get any proper rest.

The door opened. Ariel, who had curled up in a hammock, propped herself up.

"Oh, hey.. Henry."

"Oh hi, sorry," Pan said, twisting his face into a look of disappointment. He'd been looking for a moment to himself. To get his plan in order.

Ariel picked up on the boy's feelings, but decided not to let it bother her. This was a good opportunity to patch things up between them.

"Look about earlier-"

"Yeah, I'm sorry I blew up at you like that," Pan interrupted.

"Oh no, no that's... okay. I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay between us. I know you've been through so much these past few weeks."

Pan nodded a sad nod. He wasn't in the mood for this right now.

"You know I would never..."

This was harder to say than she had anticipated.

"I just wanted to say that uhm... I won't be standing in the way of your mother's happiness. I mean, Hook... he uhm... I love Eric," she blurted out, spreading her hands to empower her words some.

"And so you don't have to worry about your mom. If she and Hook are meant to be, then, they will be together."

Pan smiled, pretending to be elated by this kind 'revelation'.

"Thanks Ariel, and you will be with _your _true love soon too."

Ariel rested her hand gently on Pan's shoulder and squeezed reasssuringly.

"That I will," she replied with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

"And I'm sorry, again," Pan went on, "You've had to endure a lot these past weeks too, what with Pan and Felix torturing you and stuff."

He could hardly supress a grin when he noticed her tense up immediately. Ripping open old wounds of past victims was always amusing. Maybe spending a few more minutes with her wouldn't hurt.

"What exactly, did he do to you?" he asked in a grave tone.

"Henry... I... I'm not sure I wanna talk about that."

She smiled at him, hoping that would be the end of it.

"Please," he pressed on, "I've been thinking about it ever since I got on the ship. I can't get it out of my mind. It must have been terrible for you."

It was the biggest load of nonsense he'd ever spouted, but it appeared to work on the mermaid. She was biting her lip nervously. Already reliving the horrible things he did to her inside her head. Girls were emotional, they were forever compelled to 'express their feelings'.

No doubt she'd been holding it in, trying to be brave. But even she couldn't deny needing someone to talk to. And who better to open up to than poor young Henry, the innocent boy who had suffered the same tormentor.

Ariel felt conflicted. As much as she didn't want to go back there again, leaving Henry in the dark didn't seem right either. He'd already been lied to by so many people for so long now.

"Alright, I guess... I guess it would be good for me to talk about it. Maybe we can both leave it behind us and move on."

"Yeah, I think so," he assured her, grabbing her hand in his, moving to sit down next to her.

"Tell me, I can handle it."

With a slight tremor in her restored voice, she recounted the events that had taken place in his camp. Of course she left out a great many details. Pan listened to her intently. Reliving the moments with her. Reveling in the pain he'd caused her. He especially enjoyed her tales of Felix. She trembled visibly when she spoke of him. He'd trained that boy well. As he listened, a warped sense of pride welled up inside him. All the while acting concerned and shocked if needed.

Then came the part about the 'rescue' and the bracelet. There never really was a rescue to speak of, since he had simply decided to let her be found by her new friends when her use had expired.

Pan felt pleased about his decision to not kill her. This riveting tale of misery was too much fun to miss out on. By the end of it, she was in tears. Oh how he'd love to reveal his true self to her then and there, but he had plans. Plans he needed to stick to if they were going to succeed.

"Gosh Ariel, I'm so sorry," Pan whispered as if he was positively devastated.

"I'm glad you told me. Lucky too, that he didn't hurt anyone else the way he did you. Like my mom. She could have really been in danger. I guess Pan only preys on the weak huh."

A relieved sort of smile appeared on the boy's face.

Confusion on Ariel's.

But she had no time to truly realise what he had just said, because soon she found herself in a tight embrace.

"Thank you," were the final words with which Pan left her behind.

Ariel sat in silence a few minutes more. She didn't feel all that better. Usually when she was able to get her troubles off her chest, a burden would lift from her shoulders, but not in this instance. Her troubles weighed on her as heavily as they ever did, maybe even more so.

Gradually, light began to creep through the cracks of the ship. Ariel almost tumbled right to the floor when the ship made a sharp turn and plummeted back onto the waves.

They had arrived. In Storybrooke. Where Eric was.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I am on a roll! Wrote this entire chapter in one day. That never happens. So thought I'd treat you all to the next chapter early. Heads up though, obsessive Hook is back. Cause let's face it, he gets like that when he's into a woman. **

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><p>Groups of lost boys gathered around on deck, each looking more excited than the other. They'd not seen any land that wasn't Neverland for decades, maybe even centuries. Their eyes were wide and curious. Even from a distance it was clear how much the world had changed in their absence. For some, this was unnerving. Still, they braved the unknown which lay ahead of them.<p>

Something that could not be said for a certain mermaid. In the crew's quarters she sat. Heart pounding. Very not ready to meet the world. To face her future. She considered simply staying down here forever. A solid plan.

However, tumultuous clapping and busy chatter of voices convinced her inquisitive nature to take a peek. Slowly yet decisively she walked out of her small safe haven. The pain as ruthless as ever. She might as well try to get used to it. That bracelet wasn't coming off. Ever. And she wouldn't always want to count on others to carry her everywhere. Pain was to become part of her life now. She had come to terms with that tragic fact. No use in fighting it. Acceptance was the best way to go.

The first thing that caught her eye was the sky. Bright blue, not a cloud in sight. Ariel inched closer to the railing and looked out over the crowd. Various people were cheering and hugging each other. Relieved to be reunited with their loved ones. When a woman in a red coat came into view, Ariel let out a tiny squeal of joy.

"Belle!"

Her happiness at seeing her good friend again manifested itself in a frantic waving of the hands. Belle laughed and waved right back at her, until someone else grabbed her attention. Ariel peered at the gangplank to see Rumpelstiltskin and his son make their way down.

It was then she felt a hand on her back. She tore her eyes away from the happy couple and turned around.

"You made it all the way up here by yourself."

His voice was quiet, unassuming. Hook had started to feel the effects of the rum wearing off a while ago, leaving the pirate to wander once again.

"I did..." she replied glancing briefly at her feet, "I always will."

The not so hidden message in that statement got a response out of him in the form of a knowing grin. Ever the feisty independent one, she was.

"Come on lass," he couldn't resist offering.

"Uhm, you go, I'll be along in a minute."

With a nod, he departed from her side.

Ariel was almost the last person to step on shore. Awkwardly she stood to the side, watching everyone gather to return to their homes. Where would she go? She had no idea where Eric was. By the looks of things he hadn't shown up at the docks.

Up ahead she saw Belle making her way over, however, mid-step the brunette seemed to have changed her mind and merely waved Ariel goodbye.

Behind her she could feel a presence. She whirled around to be faced with none other than Hook. Again. Why did he keep coming around? Did he not realise that she was trying to move on?

The time for kindness had passed. Before he could even utter a sylable, Ariel beat him to it.

"Stay away from me, Hook..."

Her tone wasn't as harsh as she meant it to be. Instead it was sad and rather desperate. Without waiting for a reaction, she marched off towards, what she hoped was, the correct road to Granny's. Remembering the elder lady from her first visit to this land brought a smile to her face.

The woman was a tough lady, but she and her granddaughter Ruby had been incredibly kind to her. They'd helped her find Belle, who, Ariel would love to catch up with her at some point. Right now she needed some much craved alone time with her true love though.

Ariel peered up at the large grey mansion that was Granny's Bed & Breakfast. At least she would have a place to stay now.

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><p>She stood so alone. Lost and perhaps a fraction overwhelmed. He was trying to respect her wishes, really he was, but this almost magical hold she had on him was too powerful to resist. He just kept coming back to her, despite her rejections.<p>

People were leaving and Hook realised that Ariel probably had nowhere to sleep here in Storybrooke. So, he went over to her to let her know she would always be welcome with him aboard his ship. As far as that though, he never got.

Five words. Only five words, proved to be enough to break a pirates heart. Anger surged through his body. Anger at her, anger at himself. It was just as well that she had fled from him, because Hook was not at all sure what he would have done or said to her if she hadn't.

He needed a distraction and he needed it now. Emma had been no help. Her affections were reserved for one person only, her son. And surely in time, for Bealfire too.

First things first.

Rum.

Armed with a bottle, Hook headed into town in search for someone who had yet to let him down in his time of need.

"Tink! Care for a drink love?!" he exclaimed in a rather exuberant manner, brushing up close.

Granny's diner was crowded this evening. The place was buzzing with noise. Hook's obnoxious behaviour went unnoticed by most, but Tinkerbell saw the warning signs immediately. She knew her friend well. _Too _well, he would sometimes say. He was hurting, and he was trying to make it go away with alcohol and female company. Her company.

"Hook, I thought you stayed behind on your ship," she replied, trying to wriggle out of the pirate's embrace.

"Got lonely, love," he whispered in her ear, while running his fingers down her lower back. He diminished the distance between their bodies signifcantly, almost as though he wanted to drown himself in her.

Yes this was a dance the ex-fairy had become quite familiar with, back in Neverland. Back when they both needed a distraction. When there was no one else around to help them through it.

An involuntary chill went down Tinkerbell's spine. Oh he still knew how to push her buttons. Damn him.

"Hook, come on, you need a rest. Let me take you back to the Jolly Roger."

She put her hand to his chest to lead him away to the exit. "Come on, let's get out of here okay," she said, instantly realising that Hook would take this for more than an offer to escort him back to his lodgings.

"Aye, my thoughts exactly," thus he responded, with a sly grin.

One very long walk and countless innuendoes later, they arrived at the docks. Darkness had fallen over Storybrooke and Hook had fallen over his feet, a few times.

A little exhausted from supporting the weight of her friend, Tinkerbell lowered Hook as gently as she could manage onto his bed. He let himself fall backwards with his arms spread wide open as if begging for a hug.

Tinkerbell let out a tiny giggle. Poor man. Entirely, altogether inexplicably undone by a beautiful woman. Indeed that would take up a lot of energy.

She sat down next to him and looked in his eyes. They were tired and defeated.

"She doesn't want me, Tink."

Her heart nearly broke in two pieces. He sounded so sad. In all the years she has known him, she had never seen him so heartsick. Save for once, when one of their conversations had drifted onto the topic of Milah.

Tinkerbell put a hand on his arm. "Hey, it's going to be okay you know."

With a certain degree of effort he propped himself up. "I don't want her either. I want you."

The way in which he said those words made her almost believe it. Hook had a way of fooling people into believing whatever he said. But this time around, he was only fooling himself and Tinkerbell knew that if she gave into her own selfish desires now, she would always regret it. He wasn't in it for her. He wanted Ariel, which was painfully obvious to everyone, except maybe Ariel.

Hook traced his thumb over his friend's collarbone, she was so beautiful. Flashes of passion filled nights ran through his mind. Her sweet scent, the soft smoothness of her skin, her flaming red hair...

No. No, no, no. Not her. He had to expell her from his mind. Hook grabbed a handful of Tink's hair and pulled her in for a kiss.

"Wha.. hey!"

Tinkerbell tried to pry herself away from him, but he hooked his hook around her wrist.

"Come now don't make this difficult."

"Okay you're drunk and you need to sleep it off before you do things that you will regret in the morning."

"Don't be coy Tink, it doesn't become you."

Tinkerbell was stunned. A look of incredulousness crossed her face. How in the world could he imply that she was _easy_. After everything they've been through together, hearing him speak about her integrity like that, was a slap in the face.

"Look, I know you're hurting, but that does not mean you get a free pass in taking it out on me!"

In one swift motion she leaped to her feet and placed her hands in her sides, giving him one last stern look, before heading towards the door.

"Tink! Wait! Please, I'm sorry, you're right."

"Yes. I am," she stated, folding her arms defensively over her chest.

Minutes passed before either one of them made a move to reconcile. There were no more words left to say. But with Tink and Hook, words were scarcely necessary. One exchange of expressions was enough to calm the storm.

Tinkerbell had found herself a place to sit. On the bed right next to Hook. Her head resting comfortably on his shoulder.

"You think we'll ever get it right?"

The former fairy let out a long sigh before answering.

"I don't know..."

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><p><strong>Additional AN: Hope no one's mad at me for making Hook be a jerk to Tink, but I feel that the show has made him far too soft. And they keep glossing over all the evil deeds he has done. All of a sudden his 'dirty work' for Pan consisted of collecting cakes from another realm? Yeah I don't think so Once. He is a pirate, he did bad things, he should own his past and his present/future for that matter. Hook is flawed in my story and people acknowledge this (as they should). End mini rant.**

**Oh and in case anyone needs the clarification, at the end, Hook and Tink were talking about finding love.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Thanks to those who left me a comment. :) Feedback is important to me (so if any of you readers haven't reviewed yet, feel free to do so ;)).**

**Another quiet chapter, but don't worry there will be lots of action coming soon. In fact the end is nigh! Well for this story anyway. I have the outlines for the last chapter written AND the beginnings of a sequel. I've decided to let the readers decide if they want that sequel or not. So we shall see when the time comes. In the meantime, do read on.**

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><p>Ariel eyed the room she was given not but a few moments ago. It was very 'Granny's'. Lots of floral prints and elaborate curtains. The warm colours made the room feel quite cosy. She walked over to the windowsill. The night sky looked beautiful, little dots of clarity decorated the otherwise pitch black atmosphere.<p>

She took a deep breath and let herself fall backwards onto the bed. Finally. No longer on her feet. The relief felt like heaven. Eyes closed, lips curled in a smile, she fantasized about her life as a mermaid. Drifting effortlessly through the water. Water. A bath. Yes, that was an excellent idea. Not exactly the ocean, but it was close enough for now.

Standing up, Ariel recognized her own reflection in the mirror that hung above the dresser. Surprisingly so, because her face was still covered in dried blood and bruises. Her fingers softly caressed the bump on her temple. Vague rope burns colored her wrists and neck red. Her eyes travelled further down and stopped at the collar of the shirt she was wearing. Hook's shirt.

As much as the fabric had given her a sense of safety and comfort, it also reminded her of something she could never have. _Would _never have. She had to let him go, including everything that reminded her of him. How else would she be able to move on?

Not finding anything but towels and spare linnen in the cupboards, Ariel resigned herself to ask Ruby for some spare pyjamas and possibly clothes for the next morning. When she opened the door of her room, muffled voices from the diner carried all the way up the stairs. The inhabitants of this town have been seperated for a while. It made sense they would all want to gather somewhere, to catch up. No doubt Ruby was among them, since she was not in her room when Ariel knocked on her door.

Making her way down the steps, all sorts of anxieties took hold of the little mermaid. A big crowd was not really what Ariel was in the mood for. She felt she didn't share the joy people all around her were feeling and explaining why, was simply not a task she was up for tonight. Luckily Ruby rounded the corner just as she was about to walk into the corridor leading to the diner.

"Ariel it's so great to see you again." Ruby gave her an excited hug, which made Ariel giggle softly.

"Hey Ruby. It's so good to see you too. Listen, I was wondering do you maybe have a spare nightgown for me," she plucked at her shirt, "I, have nothing else..."

"Sure, wait right here and I'll see what I have for you."

Ariel watched her friend rush upstairs and leaned against the wall. A hearty laugh caught her attention, turning her head towards the entry of the diner. Slowly she inched closer. Just a little peek. An instant sense of serenity washed over her when she laid eyes on Snow White and her family. She had found her happily ever after in the end. They had made it, against all the odds. Their love had not only survived, but it had helped them through so many hardships.

Henry still looked a little out of sorts. Hopefully, now that he was back home and had his own bed to sleep in at night, he would soon settle again.

The bar was filled with merry dwarfs. All the fairies were there, including Tink and of course, one pirate. He looked especially interested in Tinkerbell. When he leaned in to kiss her, Ariel turned around and retreated back into the dark corridor. Why did she have to witness that? Why couldn't she just have stayed in her room and why did his behaviour still affect her so much?

"Hey, I got you these," Ruby said, appearing out of the darkness with a long silk nightgown in her hands.

"This is great Ruby, thank you."

As quickly as her pained feet would carry her, Ariel made her way up to her room. Only a few feet from her door did she bump into someone else.

"Wendy?" It was somewhat of a surpsie to find the girl standing in front of her. At the docks, Ariel had lost track of Wendy and her brothers and had been worried she'd missed her chance to say goodbye. "I thought you left town already. How come you're still here? Are you sticking around for a while?"

"Ariel. Well I'm staying here at Granny's just for the night. My brothers are asleep. We're heading out first thing tomorrow. We were all so tired, we thought a good night's rest before the journey might do us some good. We've been away from home for so long, what's one more night?"

"I'm gonna miss you," Ariel hugged the small girl firmly, then looked into her warm eyes. There was relief in them, but also kindness. Despite all that she'd been through, she had managed to remain as kindhearted as she'd ever been.

What Wendy saw in Ariel's eyes was something quite different though. Something was broken. Within her. She briefly wondered if it was Pan who had accomplished that, or if it was something, possibly, _someone _else.

"Hey, would you mind keeping me company in your room for the night? John and Michael always were the worst when it comes to snoring," the girl giggled quietly.

"Of course, not a problem."

Ariel wrapped her arm around Wendy's shoulders as they entered her room together. Locking the door behind her, Ariel excused herself for a quick shower and returned in Ruby's bordeaux nightgown. The fabric felt so light against her skin. It was absolutely delightful.

Wendy had made herself comfortable on the bed and Ariel snuggled up next to her.

"I haven't been able to properly rest ever since Neverland," Wendy confessed.

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

Ariel's nights had also been anything but peaceful as of late.

"Is that why you're not downstairs, celebrating with everyone?"

Wendy's inquiry was astute, she may have known Ariel for only a brief period of time, already she could read her like a book.

"Something like that..."

Ariel bit her lip, should she share her concerns about Hook or not? Would talking about him give her the final push to truly move on?

"I'm.. sort of trying to avoid... people."

"Hook?"

Ariel let out a chuckle. "How did you-"

"Oh Ariel, it's so very clear to everyone. He loves you."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Ariel replied knitting her eyebrows together. "He very much likes female company yes... Tinkerbell... Emma... but not me. And you know, it shouldn't bother me, because I have Eric. Or, I will when I find him tomorrow."

"It shouldn't? So it does?"

Ariel let out a fatigued sigh. It did, but saying that out loud would make it real. No longer would she be able to deny her feelings then.

Wendy bit her lip, not entirely sure if she was oversteppng her bounds with what she was about to say.

"Ariel, are you sure that Eric is the right man for you?"

An uncertain smile appeared on the mermaid's lips. "I feel that I need to find that out and I won't, if I keep chasing a man who's not interested in anything more than a nightly adventure."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments more, before both girls decided it was time for lights out.

"Oh, before I forget, I have something for you..." Wendy suddenly jumped up and snuck out of the room before Ariel could make inquiries. When she came back she was holding a small satchel.

"I'll be leaving early in the morning so I won't be able to give it to Tink myself, but..." she exctracted a vial from the pouch, "here, I stole this from Pan."

Ariel's eyes widened, stealing from Pan could get you killed, or, worse. She shuddered at the thought.

"I have no use for it anymore. I thought maybe Tink could get it to work."

"Yeah sure I'll give it to her."

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><p>The other side of town was eerily quiet. Deserted almost. Felix didn't mind this. All alone at the sheriff's station, he sat on his cot, back to the wall, an arm resting on his knee, peering out the small window above.<p>

His eyes roamed the metal bars. Unbelievable. He'd spent all his life trying to hang on to his freedom. Trying to escape the control of adults. After centuries with Pan, it seemed he had accomplished both goals, but now... Now he had to endure the same fate that had once been reserved only for that stupid girl and the fairy. Locked in a cage.

While Felix knew that Pan would eventually get him out, it irked him that the adults were even allowed to _believe _they had won. This whole realm bothered him. Not by any specific means, but it wasn't Neverland and any place that wasn't Neverland, was bad. This place, Storybrooke, as odd and different as it was there was something familiar about it too. Vaguely, very vaguely. While he was born in the Enchanted Forest, he had taken trips to different realms for Peter. This land, the land without magic, being one of them. He remembered feeling lost there. No magic to hold on to had been frightening the first time he had been sent out to spy on the Darling family.

He had long since rid himself of any fear. Peter had taught him how to live without it, without remorse. Besides, there was magic here now. A shade of darkness outside the window proved just that. It was the shadow. Pan's shadow. Felix grinned, he had always believed in Pan and his abilities. He believed in their friendship and that he would always be there to back him up.

As the dark entity slithered underneath the door it came to a halt at Felix's cell. It reached out to the lock and the door swung open.

He believed.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: ****Alright my darlings, it has come to my attention that you would like to read about other character's reaction to Ariel and all that she's been through. So I've included some Snow and Emma interaction with her in this chapter. I have something written down for Regina too, but that's for future chapters. Thank you to hateme101 and 'guest', for the suggestion.**

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><p>Warm, glowing rays of sunshine were what greeted Ariel as soon as she opened the curtains of her room with a flourish. The early morning air still felt chilly, it reminded her of the winds that blow just across the surfaces of the ocean. She closed her eyes and pictured herself surrounded by the salty waters. Mother Nature sure did her best to make today a good one. Now it was up to Ariel to do the same. She would face the challenges that lay ahead of her with determination and fearlessness.<p>

After saying her farewells to the Darlings, Ariel made her way to the diner in one of Ruby's more modest outfits. Immediately she spotted Snow, Emma and Charming sitting in a booth near the front. Everyone, or so it seemed, had noticed the beauty of this morning and had decided to get out of bed early. And who could blame them.

"Hey," Snow beckoned her over. "I was wondering where you'd gone off to, I didn't see you at all last night."

"Yeah I guess I just needed some time by myself, you know. Storybrooke can be a bit of an overwhelming place for a mere girl of the sea," she explained, giving her friend, who in turn put her hand around hers sympathetically, a crooked little smile. Snow could only imagine what it must be like for outsiders to experience this strange new world.

Emma looked at Ariel with genuine kindness, it was always great to meet friends of her mother's. Strange as though it may be at times, what with them all being fairy tale characters she grew up reading about. Nonetheless, it felt good to experience parts of the world her parents had grown up in.

However, looking at Ariel now, made her stomach twist with guilt. The wounds on her face were still not entirely healed and the memory of her beaten down appearance back in Neverland came flooding back. What on earth she must have gone through to acquire such atrocious injuries was incomprehensible. More so the fact that Rumpelstiltskin's father, Peter Pan, had inflicted that kind of pain on her. Every day she still had to check herself that all of this wasn't just some weird dream, from which she would wake up any minute now.

Emma cast her eyes down to the linking hands of her mother and Ariel. Red marks curled themselves around the mermaid's wrists like bracelets. And then there was the actual bracelet. Emma winced involuntarily and quietly spoke up.

"Ariel, I uh.. I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you this earlier, but I really do appreciate all you've done for us. We all do."

"It's not a problem," Ariel replied reassuringly. Snow was her friend and she would always be there for her and her family.

"Yes, but you got hurt... because of us."

"Look, Pan hurt me, yes, but he would've hurt Henry too. He would have killed him and hurt anyone who got in his way. And if I hadn't come to Storybrooke, we would have never found out about Wendy. She'd have been trapped in Neverland forever. Pan had to be stopped. I'm just glad that everyone is safe and together again."

Emma glanced at her mother, realizing that she truly hung out with some badass, heroic women back in the day. For the first time in forever, instead of uncomfortable, she felt extremely proud to be Snow White's daughter.

Snow picked up on her daughter's admiration and said, "We owe you a lot, Ariel."

"Yes, thank you," Charming smiled at her gratefully.

"Oh, we have to go." Emma nugded her father. It was time to check in at the station. See how their prisoner was doing. They really needed to discuss, what to do about Felix now.

Once they'd said their goodbyes, Ariel was left sitting by herself, but not for long because as soon as Ruby had brought her her breakfast, Belle stepped through the doors.

At the sight of Ariel, the brunette's eyes lit up, but at the same time, her smile had a bit of sadness to it. Back at the docks she had noticed how badly injured Ariel had looked and intended to make sure she was okay, but Hook was there too. Belle still carried around a fair amount of fear for that man, despite the fact that apparently he had helped everyone save Henry. What he was talking to Ariel for she didn't know, but she'd made a mental note to talk to her about it in the morning. Which was one of the reasons she was now making her way over to her table.

"How are you holding up?" Belle began after they'd shared a hug.

"I'm holding, I think."

"Those look pretty bad," Belle said, pointing at the bruises and the gash on her forehead, "I could ask Rumple to-"

"No, it's okay. I'll be fine. It doesn't hurt as much now, but thank you."

When she left her home this morning, Belle had resolved to try and ease into the topic of Hook, but as she was sitting there, trying to think of ways to bring it up, she simply couldn't contain her curiosity any longer.

"I uhm, I saw you at the docks yesterday. I wanted to invite you to come stay with me and Rumple, but... then I saw you talking to Hook."

At the mention of his nickname, Ariel's head shot up. The look in her eyes told Belle all she needed to know. The little mermaid had fallen head over heels for the pirate. It was the same look she had had when she talked about Eric that day she came bearing a message from Rumpelstiltskin. Why her affections had changed so rapidly, she didn't understand. And while she was happy for Ariel to be in love so very much, at the same time she was worried. This was no ordinary man she'd fallen for. This was Hook. The man who had beared a grudge against her true love for centuries and tried to kill her upon a few occasions just to sate his desire for revenge.

Belle, however wasn't the only one worried, because aside from the elation at the mention of Hook, there was also concern and confliction to be detected on Ariel's features.

"You like him don't you?"

Ariel nodded. Silently admitting what she had been trying to deny so hard.

"Ariel, you have to be careful with him. He's dangerous."

And that's when Ariel finally let out all the emotions she had supressed up until now.

"I know, I know he's dangerous and that he can be violent, he is a pirate after all. This scar," she pointed at her neck, "proves just that, but Belle, I can't help it-"

"Wait. He hurt you?" Belle interrupted sternly.

"Well, yes sort of."

Ariel began to retell the tale of their first meeting. "And then when I saw him again in Neverland, I just got lost all over again. All thoughts of Eric just disappeared and there was only me and him. I don't know what's wrong with me Belle."

Belle smiled, "You're in love."

It was a realisation that silenced both women for a moment. Belle understood, maybe more than anyone, that you can't help who you love. Rumple's past was something that was difficult to accept. He'd done unspeakable things to innocent people, but she loved him all the same. She would never pretend that he had never been anything but a saint, but she had to accept the bad if she wanted the good as well.

Hook had assisted them to get Henry back, so perhaps the good inside him hadn't completely disappeared either. Would she ever be able to forgive him for shooting her in the back? Maybe not, but if Ariel truly loved this man and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, she would try, for her sake, to tolerate him. Right now though, what Ariel needed most was a friend to tell her that it was okay to feel conflicted.

She just hoped that Hook had really changed and that she wasn't making a big mistake when she told Ariel, "Look, I can't tell you what to do, or what decision to make. It's up to you to find out what you really want. If it's Hook, then you should go for it, but if you're not sure, then you owe it to yourself to find out. Go talk to Eric. See if you still feel the same way you did when you first laid eyes on him."

"And if he still feels the same way about me," Ariel added.

"Love is about taking a risk or two. Better to have tried and failed, than to have never tried at all."

Only an hour later Ariel found herself walking along the streets in search of Tinkerbell. She wanted to drop off the pixie dust right away so that she could put all her energy into focusing on Eric. He was her next stop. From the information that Rumpelstiltskin had given Belle, she had gathered he worked at the docks as a fisherman. Ironic and at the same time convenient, because where would Tinkerbell be but at Hook's ship. The implications of that thought made Ariel cringe.

The moment the Jolly Roger came into view, Ariel's heart sank again. Her resolve and positive attitude dissolved on the spot. Hook would be there. She really didn't want to see him. Not this shortly before her reunion with Eric. With the vial clutched in her hand, she pulled her coat firmly around herself and climbed aboard the ship.

Not a soul was in sight, so they were probably still below decks. She carefully made her way down the stairs and right up to the door that led to the captain's quarters. She knocked twice. No sound. Twice again. A gruff voice, ordering another voice to 'go see who it is'.

Ariel let out a tiny gasp, despite having had, all of her walk over to the ship, to prepare for seeing Hook with Tinkerbell, the reality of it was not something she felt ready for. The door creaked open and a rather sleepy little fairy peeked around the corner.

"Oh Ariel, hey. Come in." Tinkerbell swung the door open completely to reveal Hook, who was still lying in his bed, only half clothed.

Ariel panicked. "Oh no, no. I just came by to give you, this." She practically thrust the pixie dust into Tink's hands all the while trying to avoid looking anywhere in Hook's direction. "Wendy gave it to me, to give to you. She stole it from Pan and thought you might be able to work your magic on it."

Tinkerbell looked stunned, "_Stole _it? Heh, well I wish I could use it, but... I-"

"She told me you might be hesitant to accept it. She wanted to let you know that she still believes in you and I think she's right. I believe you can make it work Tink. Somehow." Ariel offered a small smile.

"Thank you," Tinkerbell whispered. It had been some time since anyone had believed in her.

"Well, I'll let you two get back to, whatever is was that you were doing. Good luck," she added, eyes on the pixie dust.

Hook had gotten out of bed and thrown a shirt on. Just as he was about to attempt to talk to Ariel, he heard her comment about 'you two doing whatever'. He swiftly turned around, ready to explain that absolutely nothing other than sad talks and drinking went on last night, but all he caught was a glimpse of her hair as she rushed off.

Tinkerbell giggled. Hook's expression was too much. He had it bad. "Just go talk to her already. Honestly, you two are... hopeless."

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><p><strong>Additonal AN: Keep sending me your thoughts, because I feel it actuallly improves my writing. Thank you!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Ooh hateme101, you don't know how close you are. ;) Also thank you lovely guest reviewer for your support. You all make me feel so excited to share this following chapter. For the other guest who asked about Hook and Ariel's first meeting, the answer is in chapter 5.**

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><p>Finally he had found a moment to sneak off. The queen had been watching him like a hawk. Not surprising after what he had done to her son, but the overprotectiveness of the woman was suffocating him. Pan couldn't remember his own mother and he had vague memories of his father. He had been in the care of many different people, well... he wouldn't exactly call them people. Animals more like it. They treated him horribly. Once a teen, he had had enough. He had run away and never looked back.<p>

It was then that he had met a girl. Just like him. A runaway. Girls were trouble. They _caused _trouble. He knew that now, but he didn't then. She had cast her evil spell on him and eventually cursed him with a child. He had been a child still himself, maybe no longer in age, but certainly in spirit.

Love, he hated it. He would never fall into its deceptive trap ever again. So the fact that the queen insisted on drowning him with it, made his blood boil. Soon though, he wouldn't have to endure those sickeningly sweet hugs or kisses on the forehead anymore.

He had no plans to go on, pretending to be Henry for all of time. No, he had much more interesting ways to live forever and keep his youth. The hourglass had run out by now. The only advantage of this land seemed to be that he hadn't reverted back to his older self instantly. Instead he would have to grow up. In other words, die slowly. Not a prospect the boy looked forward to, but it gave him time. Time to execute his new strategy.

Right now Pan was rushing along the streets towards the woods, on his way to see Felix. After sending his shadow to get him out of that cage, Pan counted on Felix to stay out of sight for a while until he had a chance to talk. Felix would naturally chose a place that reminded him of Neverland, his home.

As expected, it didn't take long to find his most loyal friend. He found him sitting on the edge of a well, one leg lazily swaying back and forth. He'd been waiting for him.

"Felix! Good to see you out and about."

"Thanks to you," Felix grinned slyly. A feeling of antipathy crept up on him, looking at Henry's ingenuous appearance.

"So, what's the plan?" he asked, hopping off the edge in one smooth move.

"Well, I've been doing some light reading," Pan's lips curled up into a cheshire grin. That book, the saviour had given him, it contained a detailed report on every single one of their lives. Knowledge was power and the saviour had handed it to him on a silver platter. He must remember to thank her later.

"This town, is the creation of a curse. The queen still holds possession of the curse. I'm going to cast it. Again."

Felix scrunched up his eyebrows sceptically. "What's that going to accomplish?"

"Either one of two things, but the main reason is to get Rumple where I want him."

"And where's that?"

"At the point of no return."

Pan chuckled at his friend's puzzled reaction.

"You see Felix, it's a win-win situation really. We can't fail. The truth is, the curse is our back-up plan. In fact, I'm counting on them to stop it," he explained casually.

"But, if they're unable to find a way-" Felix started.

"They will forget who they are. Time will stand still and _we _will rule this land."

"But then why would you need them to stop the curse at all? Sounds like a pretty good deal to me."

"Oh it is, but what I have in mind is a far better deal, my friend. They'll be so busy running around trying to prevent their precious family from being torn apart again, they won't even know what hit 'em until it is too late for them all."

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><p>If it weren't for her lack of wings, she would have flown out of there. Ariel couldn't make herself scarce fast enough. She almost tumbled down the wooden steps but managed to hold on. Avoiding Hook may have seemed immature, but she couldn't afford the distraction. He would make her question her resolve and she was so tired of feeling insecure, unsure and torn.<p>

Once safely back on solid ground she straightened her skirt and peered into the distance. One of those ships, that's where Eric worked. With renewed confidence and a healthy dose of nerves she walked towards her potential happily ever after.

Ariel recognized him from afar. His jet black hair stood out against the white of his sweater. He looked decidedly different. Not the royal, unattainable man she met all those years ago. Just a laborer, living the life he'd been given at the start of the now broken curse. He came across quite cheerful. Laughing with colleagues, revelling in the increasing warmth of the rising sun and... chopping up fish like there was no tomorrow.

Ariel swallowed hard.

"Eric?"

A look of confusion spread across his handsome face, when he scanned the area for the person who had called him by his real name.

"Ariel?"

There she was, the woman with the flaming red hair. The one who had promised to explore the world with him only to have changed her mind at the last moment.

"My God I haven't seen you in..."

"Decades?" she smiled an apprehensive smile.

"I... how..."

To say he was speechless would be redundant, however, his state of being couldn't be described any other way. Both Eric and Ariel burst out laughing at their own awkwardness and they finally met in a warm embrace.

"I think, we need to talk." Ariel invited him to join her on a bench not too far from his boat.

"It's so good to see you. I... I thought we would never meet again." He studied her face with wonder. "What happened to..." he gestured towards the bruises on her face.

"Neverland's... a rough place, you know," she shrugged, trying to keep it light.

"Neverland? Wow, looks like you went in search of adventure all on your own." The words sounded a lot more bitter than he had intended.

"I can't believe you still remember me. After all this time," Ariel stated, brushing off the suspicion that he was accusing her of something.

"Of course, " Eric replied quickly, "How could I ever forget such a beauty?"

Ariel blushed, but she could see something in the way he held himself. He felt uncomfortable. He was shifting constantly and his eyes, while filled with happiness at being reunited with her again, still held a hint of regret or was that guilt?

"Eric, I'm sorry I wasn't there that day. I mean I _was _there, but the Queen, she took my voice and I... well as you probably have figured out by now, I'm a mermaid."

Ariel's rant went on for a few minutes more and Eric did nothing but listen to her.

"Well... say something." Ariel held her breath.

"Ariel, I... It's not that I don't love you, I do. I did. See when you didn't show up that day I, I moved on Ariel. You broke my heart. I thought I had really found someone to spend the rest of my life with, but... you weren't there. It was only years later when I learned of a story about a mermaid and a prince and how she got her legs and gave up her voice. The description of the girl sounded so much like you, but I coudn't believe it. Then the curse hit us all and I was trapped here for almost 30 years. When the curse finally did break, I realised it was true. You were the girl from the story. I searched for you here, in Storybrooke, but I never found you. So I... I gave up."

There was a sharp pain in Ariel's chest. He'd given up on her. Reason would argue that that was only natural. How was someone without magic in a cursed town, ever going to find a mermaid that could swim across any realm that had ever existed. However, reason was not among the dozens of emotions that coursed through Ariel's body.

"I gave up on finding you. No one could cross the townline and well, I had considered that maybe you stayed away on purpose that day. I tried to move on. Difficult as it was in this strange new land, I managed. I even found someone new."

Ariel's eyes watered, tears theatened to spill. Deep down, she had known all along. Now she had her answer. She attempted a smile, but it was rather a weak one.

She knew he wasn't trying to hurt her with his words. Honesty was all he had to offer her, but it just so happened that the truth was painful sometimes. His life, from what he relayed, seemed like a lot to deal with and of course he would have to move on at some point. If his search for her never amounted to anything, how could he regain a sense of hope?

After all, she had experienced a situation very similar to that herself. After Regina took her voice, had she not swam away, thinking it would never happen for her? Had she not felt that she would never find true love or a happily ever after? She hadn't had any faith left. It wasn't until Neverland that she had dared to hope again. But it was too late.

Their chance had come and gone.

"I'm sorry." Eric's hand touched hers gently. Ariel didn't pull away, instead, she simply let a tear escape, then swallowed hard and cleared her throat. "I'm... happy for you Eric."

"Ariel..."

"No. I mean it."

She didn't really. Not in that moment. But she knew herself well enough to know that once her heartache would pass, she would wish him nothing but happiness. Why should he not get his happy ending?

Eric chuckled lightly, "No you don't."

"No I don't, " Ariel couldn't help but laugh through her tears, "not right now, but...", she took hold of his hand, "I will be happy again. Someday... and... you deserve the same."

Together they stood up. The time had come to depart. Eric back to his new love and Ariel back to... to what she didn't quite know. Her future was still unwritten.

"I will probably always love you," she said, giving him a final farewell hug.

"And I you." Eric whispered to her, leaving a kiss on her cheek. He turned away from her and that was that. She watched the man she had given everything for, walk right out of her life. Her eyes drifted to the water that was glistening like tiny diamonds floating to the surface. It was a beautiful sight. Ariel closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh ocean air. She would be okay. It would hurt for a while, but she would be okay.

Several ships passed by and automatically Ariel's mind drifted off to a certain sailor. A pirate to be precise. The more she sank into her thoughts about Hook, the more she thought she could feel his presence. Hear his voice even. Ariel chuckled to herself. Her emotions were playing tricks on her, surely, but when she turned around he was standing right in front of her, looking awfully angry.

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><p><strong>Additional AN: Sorry about the cliff, but I only have half of Hookriel's confrontation written down and I didn't want to make you all wait any longer for this chap. Hope you enjoyed the tiny glimpse of Pan's past. It may or may not be important in the sequel. ;) Tomorrow school starts again, which means updates will be posted a little slower. **


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Hello my little darlings, I've worked so hard on this chapter for you guys. I'm not exactly satisfied with the way it turned out, but at one point I just needed to wrap it up and post it.**

**So many reviews, I love you guys, I don't even know where to start. **_Hateme101, _**you shall have your Regina/Ariel interaction, but you must wait one more chapter. ;) **_Sonic Key_**, I can see what you're saying about Pan and Felix, it's always hard for me to determine where the line is, but when I make Pan so cruel, I have in mind the scene where he kicks Rumple when he's down and powerless. For me that was a high level of cruelty we saw from him. If he is capable of heartlessness such as that, then he can do a whole lot of other things too, I reckon. In the end everyone has their own interpretation of the characters. :) **_Lilyaudet!_** I've missed you. So glad you're back and still reading my story. And to the **_guest_** who asked about 'Pan's World', I've been trying to continue it, but I am SO stuck. The words just don't seem to come to me. Hopefully inspiration will hit me soon.**

**And to everyone else who reviewed, faved and followed: you rock! Anyway, nuff talk, on with the reading!**

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><p>As pesky as his little friend Tinkerbell could be, she was right. He wanted Ariel and he always fought for what he wanted. He'd tried to get her off his mind, because she had taken her distance from him, but he could not let it end there. So now he was walking along the waterside to look for her. She couldn't have gone too far. He followed her pretty closely behind.<p>

Up ahead he could make out her red locks blowing in the wind. When he got closer, however, he noticed she wasn't alone. She was sitting with someone. A man. Hook balled his fist. Who was this guy and what was he doing with Ariel. He slowed his pace. They seemed in deep conversation. Wait, could that be... Could that be her prince?

They'd found each other again. Just like she said they would. They got up, which startled Hook. He very nearly ducked behind some crates, to avoid looking like a stalker, but then the prince did something that sent him into a fit of fury.

He kissed her.

He kissed Ariel. _His_ Ariel.

"Hook?!"

He hated it when she called him by his nickname. She'd done it when she had warned him to stay away. Before, she had always called him Killian. He remembered how she told him she liked that name.

"Don't call me that, you never called me that," he growled at her rather accusingly.

Ariel was taken aback by his sudden gruffness. "What are you doing here?" Silly question of course, they were at the harbour. His ship was here.

"I could ask you the same thing!"

"Wha- I don't think that's any of your business," she replied. Her heart had given a little flutter when she had turned around and found him there, but right now her heart was racing with unease and a touch of indignance. His entire demeanor screamed at her to run away, but her inquisitive nature rooted her to the spot. She wanted to know what this was all about.

His anger seemed directed at her, but since she couldn't understand why it would be, she racked her brain for the answer. Maybe it was Pan. Maybe he had found a way to come back.

"Hook, what's wrong? Is it Pan?"

Hook furrowed his brows and balled his fist. Was she toying with him?

"No. It's you," he all but roared as he invaded her personal space, forcing her to take a step back. He grabbed her by the arms to keep her from getting out of this confrontation.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play games with me lass, I just saw you."

"Saw me?"

"With him!" Hook roared as shook her firmly.

"You're hurting me! Let go!" the fear in her voice and the slight tremble in her body caused him to abruptly release her. What was he doing? He loved her, why was he hurting her? How could she ever love a man who caused her pain? His features darkened and he turned away from her.

"I saw you kiss him," he whispered softly, more to himself than her. He felt defeated. There wasn't a battle in the world he could not handle, but the battle for Ariel's heart, he had lost. If he were honest, he wasn't sure he was ever in the running.

Hook couldn't see it, but Ariel's expression softened. Her slender fingers reached out to him, gently resting on his arm.

"Killian... he kissed me... and, we-"

All of a sudden, he whirled around to face her. The anger was back. "I don't want to hear it, Ariel! I should have known better than to place my trust in one of your kind." How he had let himself be deceived by a siren so, was beyond him. Mermaids lie, they toy with your emotions, they lure you in and then they drown you. Leave you for dead. This one was perhaps the cruelest of all, because this one, broke his heart.

"Excuse me? My kind?"

Now it was Ariel's turn to get angry.

"Aye, your kind, you sirens. Off to ensnare you next victim are you?"

Ariel couldn't believe what she was hearing, her expression told him as much. Nothing, however, prepared him for the sharp sting of her hand on his cheek.

"Victim? How are you the victim here? I saw you together with Tinkerbell, long before I even had the chance to speak to Eric-"

Hook's eyebrow shot up at the mention of Tink's name. Ariel had inquired about his connection to her in Neverland. He was under the impression he'd set her straight about that. How could she not see that he wanted _her_, not Tink. Perhaps, his feelings weren't clear enough.

"The sole thing that went on last night was conversation. Tink was acting as a friend by helping me get back to my ship, nothing else happened!"

Ariel stepped away from him, but he matched her movement, startling her for a second. She stared up at him with those big beautiful eyes, full of pain and confusion.

"Why would you even care with whom I share my quarters, love?" he whispered in a dark tone, all the while moving closer towards her. "Answer me."

"Because!" Ariel shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. Her eyes searched the ground as though she might find the proper words lying there, just within her reach. In a voice barely audible, she finally admitted what she had tried to deny over and over. "Because I love _you_."

Tears were rolling down her cheeks now. Before she could turn around and walk out of his life for a second time, Hook stopped her, her wrist encircled firmly by his hand.

"We were saying goodbye. He found someone else to share his life with and we were saying goodbye to each other. He only kissed me on the cheek and... he wished me well."

Hook could no longer bear to see Ariel in such a state of dismay. Jealousy had taken hold of his heart. All he could focus on was his pain, without so much as stopping to consider what she might be going through. He automatically assumed she'd cast him aside for a prince, because that was what he was used to. Love was painful and disappointing, he'd never known it to be anything else.

He drew her in, embracing her tight while she cried into his shoulder. She loved him. He was a fool for not letting her explain herself right away. He'd hurt her with his words. He truly did not deserve her kindness, let alone her love. In that very moment, Hook vowed if she would give him the chance to prove it to her, he would show her he was capable of being worthy of her. He would make sure to never let her be harmed by anyone in any way, including himself.

"Ariel, love... look at me."

She was so beautiful. In his arms she felt fragile. He wanted to spend the rest of his extistence protecting her. Her puffy, red eyes peered into his troubled blue ones.

"It's _you _I'm in love with. You captured my heart the moment I first laid eyes on you."

With a tender brush of his thumb, Hook wiped her tears away, which at last, caused her to crack a smile. It was the most beautiful sight he'd ever had the privilege to behold. He leaned in to kiss her, lips only inches apart, when a high pitched scream resonated in the distance.

"What was that?"

"Don't know, love. Come on."

They ran as fast as Ariel could manage. Once they'd tracked the source of the screams, they spotted Snow, Charming, Emma and Tink, standing around a figure lying on the ground.

Ariel clasped a hand over her mouth. She recognised the girl on the ground immediately. "Wendy..."

Hook tugged Ariel nearer. "What happened?"

"The shadow... it killed her," Snow replied.

Emma, who had her hands placed on her hips, asserted in a tone as grim as death, "Felix is gone and something tells me Pan isn't far behind. I don't know how, but-"

"We heard the screams, is everyone alright?" Regina ran up to the group with Henry and Neal in tow. As soon as she realised what the answer to that question was, Neal was already on his knees, cradling the girl's head in his arms.

Pan, who stood but a few inches behind the Evil Queen, couldn't help but revel at the tragedy before him. His moment of glory was short lived, however, because his grandson's tearfilled eyes bore into him. Slowly, as if stunned, he walked over to the pair on the ground.

"Henry!" Regina tried to pull him back, to spare him the gruesome scene.

"Mom, it's okay."

The hairs on his arms stood on end, having to utter that despicable word. Fortunately that only worked in favour of his performance. He lowered himself next to Wendy and took hold of her arm, letting his fingers slide over her wrist. No pulse. Her lifeless eyes stared up at him and he stared right back. As if to convey to her 'I won'. And he had.

"She's gone," he breathed softly. "After I tried so hard to save her."

"It's okay son, there was nothing more you could have done for her." Neal pulled him away to stand with Regina, who hugged the boy so tightly, he half expected to pass out from lack of oxygen.

"It's Pan."

In but a fraction of a second, Pan's eyes flashed over to Tinkerbell.

"He's the only one who can control the shadow," she explained.

"But how? He's in a bloody box."

Pan took a gander at the pirate. So, he'd acquired his treasure after all, had he? He was holding on to his beloved fish like there was no tomorrow. Quite right indeed. There would be no tomorrow. Not for them anyway.

"I don't know, but we are gonna find out."

Lead by Emma, the group made their way into town, in search of Gold. Tink and Neal stayed behind, to make sure their dead little friend was in good hands with the other fairies at the convent. The prospect of being back in his own body by the end of the day, made enduring the relentless affections from the queen for a few momengs more, a little less of a burden. These people sure did not catch on quick. Except for the saviour of course. She'd sensed something was off about her son when she'd given him that book he didn't recognise.

Regina on the other hand, was so desperate for Henry's attention and love that she had no clue whatsoever. That evil witch. She stole Henry's heart from him, which was why he would enjoy her reaction to his true self the most. First things first, the curse. His victory was about to be handed to him on a silver platter. It was almost no fun at all, almost.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Hello hello and welcome to my new followers. A new chapter is here. It's a bit long, but I promised to include Regina in this one, so I decided not to save it for the next chapter. The story is almost over btw. There is 1 chapter left (maybe 2 if it turns out to be really long). Feel free to send me your thoughts, ideas or wishes for the sequel! xx**

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><p>Ariel skittered along the streets to keep up with everyone else. Emma and her parents were on a mission, no mistake made about that. Hook was equally eager to get to the bottom of things. Ariel, however, seemed the only one not entirely sure about the plan. Releasing Pan from Pandora's box was a terrifying concept to her. It was the sole magical weapon that could hold him and now they were freeing him again. Granted, Emma wanted to do this across the town line where Pan had no magic, still, he'd find a way to escape, she was sure of that. And then, they'd all be in danger.<p>

The deeper Ariel sunk into her thoughts the further behind she got. Eyebrows deeply furrowed, eyes on her feet, so as to not trip over them. Hook glanced over his shoulder and took note of her straggling.

"Are you alright love?"

"Hm," she nodded, trying her hardest to ignore the needle pricking-like sensation on the soles of her feet.

Hook gave her an expression that conveyed he knew she was full of it.

"Let's just keep going," Ariel disregarded him.

"I won't let any harm come to you." Hook replied to her unspoken fears.

"Is it that obvious?" she chuckled.

"Only to impressively perceptive pirates such as myself, love."

Ariel rolled her eyes in amusement before knitting her brows firmly together again.

"I just thought... with Pan locked away, he would be no threat to me anymore and that I wouldn't have to live in fear."

"You don't," Hook assured her "I would die before I'd let him lay a hand on you."

Ariel smiled and layed her head against his shoulder as he draped his arm around her protectively.

Once at the shop, it didn't take much for Emma to convince Gold to get rid of Pan permanently. They were all in agreement, that while releasing Pan was a risk, never being sure he was truly gone, was possibly an even higher risk.

The ride over to the town line was a quiet one. No one spoke, but all were thinking, worrying or planning. Every now and then Belle would cast a glance in the mirror to Ariel, silently trying to convince both her friend, and herself that this was the right thing to do.

However, when the time came to place the box on the other side of the line and for Emma to draw her gun, neither Belle nor Ariel were all that sure of the outcome. Everyone stood back. Belle hiding behind Rumpelstiltskin, Snow clinging to Charming and Ariel buried in Hook's arms. The red smoke cleared and Pan stood up.

He was back.

Just the sight of the boy made the hairs at the back of Ariel's neck stand up. He was so close. One step and he'd be able to...

Yet, there was something off about him. Pan looked disoriented and when he turned around to face Emma, he held his arms out in front of him, looking scared. It was an odd look for him. It didn't make much sense to Ariel until he uttered that one word.

'Mom'.

Different sets of eyebrows were raised all around the group. Pan begging Emma to not shoot him, Rumpelstiltskin urging her to do just that. There was so much confusion.

In her desire to make sense of what was going on, Ariel neglected her feelings of concern and took a curious step forward. Her hand was still gripping Hook's coat while Hook was still gripping her wrist to keep her from wandering too far.

Perhaps he was playing games with them, with Emma, but Emma apprehensively persisted. Indeed her gut feeling proved her right, not but a few inquiries later she had established the true identity of the boy in front of them. It was Henry.

Snow and charming pulled their grandson in for a big hug. For a moment it warmed Ariel's heart. Thank goodness Henry was safe again. Then he turned around and she was staring right at Pan's face. Involuntarily she shied away from him. Henry noticed this immediately and was unsure of what to do. He didn't want to scare her but he also wanted to reassure her that it was really him in there.

"Ariel... i-it's okay, it's me. I promise."

While Hook's firm hold on her never faltered, Ariel extended her arm to him. He touched her and it was the strangest thing. She had remembered Pan's touch to be cold and hard, but even in his body, Henry's gentility showed through. It was him. Which meant that... Pan...

"If he's all the way out here, where's Pan?" Charming voiced Ariel's thoughts.

Pan had been on the loose all along. Pan was Henry. Ariel's head snapped up to look Hook dead in the eye. They were both thinking the same thing. While Henry had been locked up all this time, Pan had been roaming around free. He'd been alone with Ariel on the ship.

The ship. Henry had been acting so strange ever since the attack on the ship, how had she not figured it out? It gave her chills to know that she had been alone with him on several occasions. Why hadn't he simply attacked her then and there, or Regina, or any of them for that matter? There must be something he still wants. Henry's heart?

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><p>Pan made his way through the woods of Storybrooke, back to the assigned meeting spot. There was excitement in the air. His plan was coming together. He'd gathered all the ingredients he needed to cast the curse. Save for one.<p>

"Felix!"

"Peter, that was quick. Did you get everything?"

Pan held out a pouch containing all sorts of exotic and other worldly substances.

"Can't believe you outwitted the queen in less than a day. These heroes aren't very bright, are they?"

Pan chuckled in agreement. "It's their _love _for one another that makes them so blind, so trusting. Weak. Remember that Felix, love is weakness."

Felix nodded gravely.

"Time to set the wheels in motion."

As Pan began to mix up the potions by dropping them into the depths of the well, Felix absentmindedly leaned on its edge.

"Peter... this curse. You said it was our back-up plan. What did you mean by that?"

"Like I said Felix, I need them to stop it, in order to acquire something greater, much more valuable. Stopping it entirely will be impossible, averting it, however isn't. When they do, we will all return to the place we were born."

Felix regarded his leader with reverence. Pan had a billiant mind, but he failed to see how simply returning to the place they had both tried so hard to get away from would benefit them.

"We will return," Pan continued when he saw the doubtful look on his friends face "with the Dark One's powers in our possession. _My _possession to be exact."

"What? But how is that even possible?"

"Oh I know Rumple hid the dagger, hence the little push he'll need to retrieve it."

Both boys smirked.

"Right, is that everything?"

"No, I just need one more thing."

"What's that?"

"The heart of the thing I love most."

Felix's eyes went wide. He wouldn't... not after everything they had been through together. Pan wouldn't sacrifice him. Besides, he _just _said love was weakness. There was no way that there was anything in the world that Pan loved. Except maybe...

"Me," Pan stated, almost proudly.

His answer was met with a bewildered reaction, "But then how will you stay alive?"

"One can live on without a heart Felix, however, not if the heart has been destroyed, which is what this curse will do, in order for it to succeed."

"Yes..." Felix confirmed, not immediately understanding why his leader was stating the obvious. Then it dawned on him, he would use _his _heart to sustain them both. After all, it wouldn't matter which heart resided in Peter's chest, just as long as he had one.

"Your heart will support me as it always has. What's more, with your heart inside me, it will be safe from crushing, I can promise you that." Pan assured Felix, while placing his hand securely on his friend's shoulder.

"Alright," Felix drawled in a determined tone. "Do it."

No sooner had he finished speaking the words, than Peter had his hand in his chest. The pain was agonizing. If he had to guess, he would say it was about as painful as having your shadow ripped from you. He looked down at where Peter was gripping his heart tightly. With one firm rip, he extracted his heart. When the pain subsided he opened his eyes to a reddish blackish heart pulsating in the palm of Peter's hand. It was such a surreal sight.

Next, Pan did something even more outragous, he plunged his hand past his own ribcage to ultimately present a heart darker than his. His wild grin painted him a maniac. Pupils wide with wonder and desire. He was about one step closer to his final goal. With a violent thrust, he shoved Felix's heart into its new host.

If Pan was nervous about crushing his own heart and essentially killing himself he never showed it. With cold determination he squeezed his hand into a fist until nothing but ashes was left. He crumbled it into the well and watched as the curse took effect.

"W-we're still alive," Felix breathed heavily.

"Did you ever doubt me?" Pan asked with a smug grin on Henry's face.

"Any plans on getting back in your own body?"

"Nah, they'll soon figure out I'm still alive and they will want to protect Henry. They'll undoubtably find a way to switch us back. Let them scramble to achieve it. It'll be fun to watch."

"But what if they fail," Felix asked, clearly not having the same amount of faith in the heroes as Pan had.

"Oh they won't...but _if _they do, I'll switch us back in due time. Being me just isn't the same without my good looks." Pan cocked an eyebrow playfully as Felix grinned at him.

"So after we succeed, who gets to pay first?"

"I think you'll find, that the payback has already begun."

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><p>Pan was cursing Storybrooke. Again. Ariel hadn't been around for the first curse, but from what she had gathered it tore everyone apart. For 28 years, people lived in misery without even knowing they had once been happy. She could only imagine what it would be like to live in a world of Pan's creation. Somehow she suspected, it would make Neverland seem like a walk in the park.<p>

They had found Regina, but no Pan. He'd tricked her and now he had the scroll. Luckily they still stood a chance. If they were to switch Henry and Pan back, before he could cast the curse, Henry could return the scroll to them. In order to perform the switch though, they needed the black fairy's wand. Tink had offered to retrieve it. Along with Charming and Neal, Hook had decided he would join her, in case Pan's shadow would show up. Ariel had offered to come too, but Hook insisted she stay at the shop where it was safe. Reluctantly she had agreed and asked him to place a flower on Wendy's coffin for her.

She couldn't believe her friend was truly gone. Only a day ago did she sit on her bed at Granny's and chatted away about how utterly annoying her brothers could be, but how incredbly glad she was to have found them again. Poor John and Michael...

Regina regarded Ariel from afar. She looked lost in her thoughts. Her heartache was palpable. Looking around the room, Regina noticed it, in what way Pan had touched all of their lives. He had turned them upside down. He had torn them all to shreds just to sate his selfish desires to stay young and powerful. What she was looking at now, were mere remnants of the courage and hope everyone had been desperately trying to hold on to. They had all lost someone, or nearly lost someone. That took its toll on one's soul. Eventhough mermaids were supposedly without souls, Ariel appeared particularly dejected. The marks on her face only intensified the sadness radiating off of her.

Back in Neverland, when Snow and the pirate had arrived with the battered mermaid, she'd been shocked to see exactly how far Pan would go, to get what he wanted. It was one of the reasons she'd eventually put a spell on Henry's heart. Pan wasn't the type to give up easily. She was like that once too. Not caring who or what got in her way, as long as she could destroy Snow White. She knew precisely how bad things could get if they didn't stop Pan. Seeing the cuts and bruises and all that blood on Ariel, it had tugged at her heart, but she had pushed it away at the time. The mermaid had been nothing to her, Henry was the only thing that mattered and she'd convinced herself that any means justified keeping him safe.

However, she wasn't the only one who loved Henry and she wasn't the only one who had come close to losing someone. Emma and Neal had too, almost lost their son. Snow nearly lost her prince to dreamshade. Ariel was the only one out of all of them, who had _actually _lost someone. Two someones. Her prince, back when she'd stolen her voice and now the girl, Wendy.

It was because of her, she had even crossed paths with Pan in Neverland. She brought her there to retrieve that box and once Ariel had come through for them, she hadn't spared a single thought on the mermaid's fate. Granted she'd been under the impression she was halfway to Storybroooke to get her happily ever after, but when she found out Pan was holding Ariel captive, she should have done more to help her. She had magic, it would have been easy to rescue her. Maybe there had still been a part of her that had been pleased that she wasn't the only one deprived of a happy ending. But that was wrong. Without Ariel they would have never gotten as far as they did.

For Regina, it was difficult to care about someone other than herself. Especially since she had been taught from an early age, that love is weakness and the more people you cared for, the weaker you would be. Enemies would exploit that love. Pan taking advantage of her affection for Henry proved it. Yet it was also strength. Emma and her parents had shown her that.

Without realising it, Regina stood up and made her way over to Ariel.

"Ariel..."

The mermaid was shaken out of her pondering by the mention of her name.

This was quite hard. Harder than she would have thought. So many evil deeds and she had yet to apologise for any one of them. How do some people express their regrets so easily?

"Listen... I wanted to let you know... I'm sorry," she uttered slowly, bowing her head slightly.

Ariel looked up at her. Surprised and a little curious as to what brought this on, she decided to hear her out.

"It was because of me that you ended up in Pan's claws. I... feel responsible for the pain you've had to endure."

Silence fell between the two women and just as Regina was about to tell her to say something, anything, she did.

"Thank you."

Her voice was so soft and sincere.

Regina smiled kindly while trying to find a more positive topic to talk about. "What ever did happen with your prince? Did you find him?"

Ariel's expression saddened. Not the right topic. "Yeah, I did. It.. didn't work out."

"Oh, that's... unfortunate." Regina struggled to find the right words to say. She mentally kicked herself for bringing up such a sensitive subject.

"Well, as it turns out, my heart belongs to another sailor."

Now that was a surprise. "I guess there's no accounting for taste," she mumbled under her breath, hoping Ariel would take it as a joke.

"I'll have you know, I'm every woman's fantasy," Hook sauntered over and placed his arm around Ariel's waist, who thankfully didn't seem hurt by her comment. Realising, that with Hook back, Tinkerbell was also back. With the wand. She turned around, but before walking off she addressed Ariel one more time.

"Are we-"

"We're okay," she nodded. "I accept your apology Regina. Go take care of your son."

Ariel watched her rush to Henry's side.

"Apology? The Queen deemed you worthy enough of her apologies did she?"

Ariel gave Hook an admonishing glare. "She's trying."

They rejoined the group, watching Rumpelstiltskin expel Henry's soul from Pan's body. When it was done, Ariel was about to accompany the others outside, to look for the real Henry, when Hook pulled her aside. "Hey," he whispered, smiling gently, "Wendy, she's alive."

"What?" Ariel's eyes widened. "How?"

"Tink defeated the shadow, she was revived shortly after."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Final chapter my dears! Ah, I'm so excited! I made some small changes in the way events happened on the show, I hope it's not too confusing. Anyway, **_hateme101, _**I'm so glad you enjoyed it, thanks! **_Lilyaudet,_** thank you! Now when are you going to continue your stories? I long to read some Hookriel that isn't mine. ;) **_Guest,_** wow thank you for your wonderful support. Your reviews always made me want to keep writing. In fact thank you to ALL the lovely supporters of this story. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it.**

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><p>It was time. He could feel it. His shadow had been destroyed, by that wingless gnat no less. That had not been part of his plan. It was unfortunate, however, it would not affect what was to come next. They were about to reunite him with his own body.<p>

Pan had instructed Felix to lay low for the time being and was now scanning the books at the library. A thought had occured to him just moments after he'd cast the curse. Why did it have to be, one or the other? Become the Dark One, or curse the entire town. He could have both. He could be the Dark One _and_ curse this wretched town. Being the only one with magic, being able to remember while no one else could, now _that _would make for some wonderful entertainment.

For that reason it was, that Pan had decided to read up on the ways of this world. He was about the grab a book about technology when he sensed it. Magic. He fell to the floor, a sharp tugging feeling ripped through his body. Then, darkness. It might have taken a few minutes for him to recover, but it felt like mere seconds.

Once he'd opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a cot in his son's shop. No one was there. Except his son. Rumpelstiltskin. He was always there. He always would be, if he didn't do anything about it soon. Oh how he wanted to end his life right then and there, but he had to wait. Pan needed one last thing from him.

"Thought you would've killed me in my sleep, laddie."

It surprised him that he hadn't. It would have been easier, not to mention wiser. Pulling himself up into a sitting position, he felt something around his wrist. The cuff. Ah, so that's why. He still needed something from him too. Here it was, he wanted a heart to heart first. That was about the very last thing he was in the mood for.

Pan had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Did he honestly believe there was still a part of him that felt remorse for abandoning him? He might have once. A long, long time ago. Mere seconds after he let go of that little boy's arm. The feeling had lasted so briefly, that he used to question whether or not it had even been real.

Looking at the man that child had grown into, aggravated him. By this time he should have been looking at ashes and bones, but no, he'd gone and made himself the Dark One. Granting him eternal life. Clinging to power ever since. Searching for all the ways to eliminate the risk of dying. In that regard they really weren't too different from each other, no matter how much Rumple tried to deny it.

Well, if conversation he wanted, conversation he would get. Toying with minds was a favorite pastime of his. He might as well play one more game, before he'd strike the much needed blow that would force Rumple to take drastic measures.

Which didn't take much. Almost immediately he pulled a sword on him. Time to teach him his last lesson.

"Never make a cage you can't get out of."

Pan tore the cuff off his wrist. The sheer terror on Rumpelstiltskin's face was delectable. He was in a right state of panic when the cuff appeared on his wrist instead. With a swift movement of his arm, Pan sent Rumple crashing into the wall. The pathetic little rodent tried to scurry back to his sword, but a vicious kick to the chest prevented that.

Never before had Pan felt more disgusted with his offspring than in this exact moment. It would be so easy to... No. Patience. There'd be plenty if time for killing later.

With his most hateful sneer, he reminded Rumple of all the horrors he had in store for his loved ones. Pushing and shoving Rumple right over the edge. Just enough to make him realise, giving his own life is the only way to stop him. He was so close now. So close to ultimate power. And more importantly eternal youth.

Before exiting, Pan took a brief glance back. Even without the Dark One's powers, he'd already won.

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><p>More running. Ariel was starting to wonder how much longer she could keep this up. With every single bit of contact her feet made with the ground, the bracelet punished her mercilessly. She could almost hear Pan's devious voice, whispering to her. 'The pain is your price, mermaid. You don't belong on legs. You deserve the pain.'<p>

She was falling behind quite a bit. For a moment, when the group rounded the corner onto the main street, Ariel even lost sight of them. Just as she too passed the corner, her eye fell on a figure. Her heart skipped a beat, black spots clouded her vision and her legs gave.

She could hardly feel the stinging of her scraped knees as she blinked to restore her sight, then peered in the direction she thought she saw the figure come from.

Nothing.

But... not nothing. Ariel was certain of it.

Felix. He was here. On the loose. And within an extremely small distance of her.

In the meantime, the group had come to a halt not too far ahead. Vaguely she could make out a boy running towards Emma and Regina. Then her gaze fell upon Hook.

"Killian!"

Surprised to hear his name, he whirled around. Then, alarmed to find Ariel in a heap on the concrete, he ran over to her.

"I'm sorry, love. I thought you were-"

Wildly, Ariel grabbed ahold of Hook's coat when he hoisted her up.

"You're alright lass," Hook comforted her, sensing the anxiety in her movements. His concern grew all the more when she buried her face in his chest. She was trembling all over. Gently, he placed his hand on her shoulder, disjoining her from him, just a touch.

"Ariel. What happened?"

She stayed silent, contemplating her answer.

"It's... my feet," she glanced down at them, "I guess, I just... collapsed from the pain."

Hook wasn't convinced it was only the pain that had floored her, but he didn't wish to press on. Instead he pulled her into an embrace and whispered in her hair, "We will find a way to release you from this blasted curse. I promise you, love."

Ariel smiled wistfully, nodding her head. Whether that promise was an empty one or not, she appreciated his determination. In his mind, relieving her from Pan's sentence was not an impossible task. Of course, pretty much nothing would seem impossible to a man who had survived Neverland for hundreds of years.

Curling her fingers around his, Ariel and Hook made their way back to the group. Everyone stood silently listening to Regina explain the price of averting the curse. The deal was, that everyone would return to the place they were born. Which meant for Regina, living a life seperately from her son.

Ariel could see she was trying to be strong, for Henry, but inside her heart was breaking. There once was a time when it seemed that nothing would ever be able to thaw the queen's icey heart. Yet the love for her son had done it. She would do anything for that boy. Including letting him go, to save his life.

"Oh my heart bleeds," a voice ripped through the air, "Or, well.. Felix's does."

Ariel dug her fingers into Hook's arm. It was Pan. But how? Rumpelstiltskin was supposed to make sure he'd stay powerless. That cuff, it had the ability to take away magic for as long as it was worn. It was simply not possible to take it off by yourself. Much like her own 'cuff'.

Nevertheless, there he stood. Free from restraints.

In a flash the tiny scroll Regina was holding, changed owners. Pan held it up triumphantly for closer inspection. Then turned his attention to Emma and Regina who had put their protective arms around Henry and were now backing up considerably. His predatory eyes roamed over each and every person before him, all the while advancing on them.

Ariel's heart was beating a mile a minute. Finally he came to a halt in front of her. Her desire to run away was overpowered by fear. It froze her to her spot.

"Well, if it isn't the pirate's little slag. How are the feet? Still in pain I hope?" he grinned maliciously. Before Hook could utter so much as one syllable in anger, Tinkerbell bravely stepped forward. Her stance was defiant and she had intended to speak, if it weren't for the dangerous way Pan was now looming over her.

"Yes... _Tink_?"

Pan looked about ready to strangle her.

"You'd rather I punish you instead? You do deserve it, seeing as how.. you _betrayed me_."

The ex-fairy had been well aware of the consequences of standing against Pan. When Henry's family arrived, searching for assistance from her, she had nothing left to lose. At the time, she might have been their best chance at defeating Pan, but they had also been her best, if not last, chance to leave the island. So she'd taken it. Not expecting to make it out of Neverland alive. Now that she was here though, her life had a purpose once more. And Pan was about to collect on an age-old promise he'd made her. If she were to ever stand so much as an inch in his way, he'd make sure that ripping one's shadow would seem like a stroll in the park compared to what he'd do to her.

Pan was enjoying every moment of Tink's discomfort. She was no coward. Never has been. Still, she knew when to be afraid of him, which pleased him greatly. He took another step towards her, invading her personal space.

"Back off, Pan," Tinkerbell managed to hiss through her teeth.

Pan scoffed at her attitude and drew his knife. "I'd hold my tongue if I were you. Unless of course, you'd like me to cut it out for you."

Ariel, who'd been holding her breath during their entire exchange, now tugged gently on Tink's sleeve, pulling her back to stand with them.

"Don't touch them!"

An eerie smirk, spread across Pan's youthful face. His work had paid off. Took him long enough.

"How about that. Come to save your loved ones, have you?"

Rumpelstiltskin appeared from behind his father, with confidence in his stride. He was on a mission and nothing Pan would say or do, could make him change his mind.

"I have. I know what must be done now. I know a sacrifice must be made."

Belle, took a step in her true love's direction, but he stopped her with a glance.

"Rumple.. w-what..."

"It's okay Belle. I love you. I always will. Your love saved me and now, I hope, mine will save you."

The tension in the air was thick. Pan rolled his eyes as he suffered through his son's pitiable farewell speech.

"Bae, my dear boy. I've spent my life regretting letting you go. And now, I must do so again. I want to give you the chance that I never had. The chance to be with your son."

"Are you quite finished?" Pan interrupted. This was taking entirely too long. On the horizon, the clouds of green were advancing rapidly.

"If you truly believe you have what it takes to defeat me, you've hit your head harder than I thought. You don't even have any magic."

Up until now, Rumple had ignored the presence of his father. When he finally did turn his attention to him, all he could see was undiluted evil. He never cared. Not once. "Well you see, papa, I don't need it. What I do need, however, is this..."

Down swooped his shadow, dagger in hand. Before Pan had time to brace himself, the shadow nestled itself into his body. This was going to be painful.

"I understand now... in order for you to die, we both have to die," Rumple whispered to him, before plunging the dagger into his back.

The sensation was agonizing and at the same time, curiously exhilerating. Pan could feel the darkness being extracted, it was violently looking for a new host. The flood of magic coursing from one body into another caused them both to sink to the ground. Heavy black smoke whirled around them, until at last, Pan had absorbed every single bit of Dark magic.

This town was a quiet one. Still, never before had it been possible to hear a pin drop in the middle of Storybrooke's main street. Jaws were dropped, hands lifted before open mouths, eyes squinted shut. Like statues, they stood.

Only when Pan showed the first sign of movement, did the rest come alive again. Back on alert. The boy inspected himself as though he felt he should look different. His skin was decidedly paler than before, his hair was now yet black and his eyes were a fiery shade of yellow, like that of an animal. For the first time in his life, his appearance matched his personality. No longer could anyone ever mistake him for an innocent. Even his grin was feral.

"Thank you, Rumple," Pan bowed down to his son with a flourish. "You've done me _very _proud."

"H-how..."

It was a question on many a mind.

His slender fingers curled themselves around the hilt of the Dark One dagger. Light bounced off of it and in decorated letters it now read, _Peter Pan_.

Out of everyone, Regina was still the most on guard. Stunned as she might have been, she was prepared to strike when needed. Her eyes followed those of the demon boy and soon landed on the scroll that lay forgotten at Rumpelstiltskin's feet. With a quick wave of her hand, Regina collected the scroll and gripped it tightly in her fist.

Pan didn't move. He only stared at Regina's hands for several seconds before smirking to himself. Let them try and save themselves. It wouldn't matter. Storybrooke, Neverland, the Enchanted Forest, he'd be unstoppable anywhere.

Without a single word, he turned and disappeared in a cloud of green smoke. A chill went up Ariel's spine, those eyes had held a very clear promise.

This wasn't over.

Slowly but surely, everyone snapped out of their dazed state of being. Belle was the first to move, she hurried over to Rumple's side. Regina, unsurprisingly, was the first to speak.

"We have to stop this curse."

"What bloody difference is that going to make now?" Hook replied in an agitated manner.

Regina directed her firm stare at Hook, matching his ferocity. "Would you rather have him be the Dark One and be stuck in a world of his creation, or stand a chance against him in a land we know?"

Hook glared back at Regina, but knew she was right. Better to fight on your own turf than on your enemy's.

"Right, let's go then," Regina ordered.

This wasn't happening. How was this happening? Pan was the Dark One. Last time they fought him, they had barely escaped with their lives. Imagine what he would be capable of now.

Ariel's eyebrows knitted themselves into a worried knot. Hook squeezed her hand reassuringly, but not even he could comfort her. The endless possibilities of what Pan might have in store for them all, each more horrible than the other, whirled around like a tornado inside her head.

She looked over at Belle, who was supporting Rumpelstiltskin and took a deep breath. She needed to calm down. Everything was going to be alright. She couldn't give up hope now. That would certainly ensure their demise. Pan wasn't the only powerful being around. Regina would be a formidable opponent, as she had proved to be in Neverland. And Emma, well she was the saviour after all. Both women had combined their magic before, or so she'd been told. They stood a chance. That was all that mattered.

Arriving at the town line, the reality of the situation sunk in. They were going back. At least she would be going back with Hook by her side. Now that she had finally found her true love, she never wanted to be apart from him ever again.

"Hey sailor," she tugged at his hand, knowing the nickname would always conjure up that irresistibly sly smile.

"Aye, mermaid?" he retorted, towering slightly over her.

"Have I ever told you, that I kind of like you?"

"Well that's no surprise, lass. I'm an exceptionally likable man."

Ariel giggled softly, before leaning in to press her lips against his. Then something odd occured, something she had already accepted as a poor prospect. A little sound of clicking metal was the only warning Ariel got, before she found herself lying on the ground.

She tried to stand back up, but then realised her legs, were no longer legs. Her head snapped up at Hook, eyes bright with tears. True love's kiss. It had lifted the curse on her bracelet! He kneeled down next to her. Her fin was healed but it was heavily scarred. Scales were missing and the end of her tail looked ragged.

Hook didn't miss the gentle caress of Ariel's fingers over the old wounds.

"You are beautiful love, in any form. Having said that, I do favour your unattired form over any other..."

This earned him a slap on the arm, followed by a passionate kiss.

"Easy love, the curse is already broken."

"Oh shut up, pirate."

Just as she was about to pull him in by his collar, Ariel caught sight of the dark green clouds looming in the very near distance. Hook turned, looking over his shoulder, then back into the panic-stricken eyes of his beloved mermaid.

"We won't arrive together."

Hook raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"I was born in the ocean. Now that I have my tail back, that's where I will go."

Hook's fingers clenched so tightly around Ariel's wrist that she could feel bruises starting to form. Alert him to her pain, however, she did not. Because her hope was the same as his; if he just held on, it would be impossible for the curse to tear them apart.

"Look for me," she whispered.

Then the clouds turned purple, sweeping the land clean of all its residents.

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><p><strong>Additional AN: So there you have it. What did you guys think? I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments. Right now I'm going to try and focus on some of my other stories. People have been waiting for updates for ages. Sorry! But not to worry, I already have an outline, albeit a very thin one, for the sequel. Prepare for it to be dark though, cause... yeah DarkOne!Pan... not good. **

**PS. Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. Have a great New Year's! **


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